Abysmal Liquidity
by FurudeRika
Summary: Self-insert fic. Anh wakes up to find herself somehow in the an unfamiliar setting. She ends up in a predicament when Jade suddenly steps in and helps her financially. The downside? Anh is in debt with Jade and now she has to work for him.
1. Prologue: Stuck in the game

**I have no idea why I'm doing this…but I am. I am writing an SI, the world will now end. Not really, but I might as well give it a shot.**

**Just a short note: These first couple chapters will be a small section from the story that was mentioned only a couple times in the story itself. But it will fall into the story eventually.**

**Note #2: Abysmal Liquidity may sound weird for a title but there's a small meaning to it. Abysmal means unfathomable and Liquidity is like a measure of the ability of an individual to convert assets to cash. In other words, an unfathomable way to pay someone back!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own ToA.**

* * *

**Prologue: Stuck in the Game**

'There was a time and place for everything' goes a saying I wasn't able to name who or what had said that.

Where I was right now...was not the right place nor was it the right time.

Hey, there. Name's Anh. Age: 18. Current educational status: a university student studying to become a teacher. I rarely had the time to play games during my study times (as if I study, I would chose games over studying but I do study every now and then), but when I do, it was really hard for me to stop playing it. Yes, I was one of those gamer girls out there. I always loved a good RPG game. However…as of right now, instead of playing the game…

I was currently _in _the game.

No joke. It happened one day when I got home…

* * *

I arrived home, tired and weary since I had been walking around all day. I took off my shoes and walked past the living room towards the kitchen. After grabbing a cup of water, I head back to my living room and propped myself on the couch. There was a dark object laying there at my feet. After I got a good look at it, I realized that it was a PlayStation 2 console. Not only the PS2, but a Tales of the Abyss game with a note right beside it. I picked up the note and read its contents.

_Kappy just happened to drop by with the PS2 and ToA. Knock yourself out._

I smiled to myself. Kappy was the nickname of a friend of my younger brother, since I liked using that name very often, it was kind of stuck onto me. Anyway, I had been dying to play Tales of the Abyss again and here it was, right here in my living room. All plugged into the TV, heck, even the memory card came with the game.

Good old brother and Kappy.

I was thinking about borrowing it again and not return it until I properly finished the play-through, which took roughly about two weeks the last time I remember. Maybe less since I was grinding and getting those AD skills for about the majority of the game.

And now it was right here, in my hands.

"I guess I can start that second play-through I've been dying to play," I mumbled to myself as I turned on the TV and the PS2 after I insert the disk and memory card into the PS2. The second play-through felt more accomplishing and I didn't have to worry about the hard core grinding during the first one. Once I got past the opening, I loaded the memory card.

Turns out it was empty.

"Figures," I muttered to myself. Gah, playing through it from scratch was a pain in the butt but I guess it can't be helped. Better to play it from scratch than trying to play the entire game without a memory card. I sighed and started a new game.

Before I knew it, it was night time. And I was up to the point where Luke and Tear met up with Ion in the Cheagle Woods. As much as I wanted to continue playing it, I couldn't. I was tired and I wake up early in the morning to do daily chores. I might as well get some sleep now before I wake up snapping at everything I see first thing in the morning. I pouted at the game, and decided to save and turn off the console.

Well, at least it was some progress.

I got into bed and sighed. I wished there was a way for me to just keep playing the game non-stop. Not that it was ever going to happen but it was just wishful thinking. I fell asleep instantly after thinking about that.

I seriously didn't know what happened after that since I was out like a little baby. Next thing I knew, I woke up in an Inn. Not only I was oblivious for the first five minutes but I fell back into the bed I was sleeping in. It wasn't until someone shouted outside of the window that I got out of bed to shout at them to 'Shut up'. It was then that I noticed that it wasn't my backyard. There were buildings. Like...Actual buildings. Not the condos I usually see from my backyard but buildings buildings. It took me a while before I shut the window and sat on my bed.

This had to be a dream.

My hand immediately flew up to my face and pinched my cheek. I instantly flinched when I felt a burning sensation from my right cheek. I frowned at myself, rubbing my sore cheek.

Okay...so I wasn't dreaming... I took a good look around the room I was in.

Stone floors with a wooden ceiling. There was a small wooden counter with a vase filled with flowers. What the heck? What happened to my large white counters with all my Mokona dolls? And why were there no electric plugs anywhere? I opened the window one more time as I looked out from it. To the left, I made out what looked like a tall stone pillar as well as what appeared to be the exit; to my right was...a Cathedral? I most definitely do not live near a Cathedral.

People were staring at me since I was poking my head out a couple times looking like an absolute lunatic squinting. I noticed that those people were so not wearing similar clothing like I was. It was like I was the person that was standing out the most because of my clothes. I sat back on the bed cross legged, trying to figure out where the hell I was.

And then it hit me.

"Oh...you have got to be kidding me." I whispered under my breath.

* * *

So.

That was my lovely morning. Woke up in what apparently looked like Daath just by looking out of my window, and now I had no flipping idea what to do! I had my clothes, but I sure don't have money to pay for the room service. How did I get in the Inn anyway?

That aside, I was so screwed. Luckily my room was on the first floor so I can just sneak out of the window. I opened the window and jumped out of it. I hit the ground while scraping my feet and winced in pain as I felt the raw impact.

Great. Not only do not have money, I had no freaking shoes!

Oh, this was a total fml.

"What have we here?" A deep masculine voice said that was obviously directed at me. I looked up to see someone dressed in blue and had brown hair.

By the way, I couldn't see properly. I set aside my glasses on my counter before I jumped into bed. What person sleeps with their glasses on anyway? I was not that blind but it was hard to make out the person if they are at least five feet away from you. Anyway, it was hard to make out who that person but after a long minute of squinting, I pointed a finger at that man and shouted at him.

"Jade Curtiss?" I asked that man. "What are you doing here?"

I swear this was the longest awkward silence I ever had. Scratch that, I had been through worse. But this one was just as unbearable because one, I was partially blind and two, I had no clue what Jade was doing. He certainly hadn't left my line of view so what was he waiting for?

"Hey you!" Someone shouted. I jumped and turned around to see someone from the Inn poking their head out of the window I jumped out of. I squeaked a little bit. Crap! I had been caught. "You haven't paid for your stay yet!"

"Oh mother eff," I swore. I felt a rough hand grab my shoulder and drag me towards the entrance of the Inn. I think…

I was lead inside where I met up with the person that was in my 'room'. The hand released my shoulder and walked up to the other person. They were discussing something that I was not familiar with, but I do know one thing: my ass was getting saved. By Jade, no less. After a bit of talking, he returned to me. Jade then guided me to a table where he ordered food and the aroma from the kitchen wafted all around the entire Inn. It was delicious and I even heard my stomach growl.

Man, I was pretty hungry. But I get this weird suspicion that I was not going to be let free that easily.

This was, after all, Jade the Necromancer.

It wasn't too long before Jade placed an order for the both of us. While we were waiting for both of our meals to be brought for us, I felt like I was watched like a hawk and it was unbearable to get those crimson eyes staring at every movement you were doing. Almost like a predator ready to strike at the prey if there was any sudden movement.

Oh, someone save me right now, his stare was more than I can bear. It felt extremely uncomfortable.

When the food was delivered to the table, I was more than happy to divert my attention to something else. Like the food in front of me. Creamy soup served with bread. Yum!

"I wanted to know something," he started as he broke a piece of bread. "Have we met before?"

I nearly choked on the soup I had in my mouth. Oh, for the love of- I was doomed. I just know I was.

"Uh...well...I...uh..." I tried to think of something to lie to him. Argh, but then he would know it was a lie. Telling him the truth wasn't an option since he wouldn't believe that I came from another dimension and appeared in a _video game_. Could I worm my way past it? No, I sucked at lying. Man...Why do I always have to be honest when I gave a reply? And if I wasn't being honest, it was already evident that I was planning to lie.

Fudge.

Trying to change the subject, I cleared my throat, "Thanks for getting me out of that situation. I didn't know what to do when I suddenly woke up in a room I wasn't familiar with."

"Suddenly woke up in a room you weren't familiar with?" Jade asked.

Double fudge. Said too much.

"D-Don't get me wrong!" I stuttered while waving my hands in front of me. "I just didn't know how I got there in the first place. One minute I was sleeping in my bed and the next thing I knew, I was in another one. It's just…I don't remember."

"You don't remember? As in you don't remember what happened the night before or you don't remember the reason why you were there?" Jade asked. What's with all the questions lately? Oh, right. Some random girl jumped out of the window and was able to recognize Jade who in turn didn't recognize her. Like that was totally not suspicious.

"I don't remember how I got there." I mumbled as I scratched my jaw. "I don't have money, and this is the only pair of clothes I have right now. So…I'm kind of in a fix right now."

"In any case, you only have financial issues. I can provide you money and supplies, if you like." Jade told me.

I literally beamed. No seriously. Literally. Then my bright smile turned into a frown and I fell back to my chair.

It was too good to be true. Way too good. Something was up, I couldn't put my finger down on it. I looked up at Jade to see what he was up to. It was hard to see but I think he was smiling. That smile of his…It was not a nice kind of smile but the devious kind. Something was up. Knowing Jade, he was always up to something.

"But…?" I asked.

"But what?" he asked back. Jade was feigning innocence, that tone of his said it all.

"There's a condition under all of that, isn't there?" I asked. "No one, not even a completely sane person, just goes and gives me money and clothes out of the blue since I told them that I have nothing on me and expect nothing in return. What's your condition?"

"Oh, nothing much," Jade shrugged. He returned a smile to me as the next line completely put me in pure shock. "It's just that you will have to work for me. That's all."

I sat there in complete silence as I blinked once. No. Twice. When the last line he had just said soaked in my head, the first thing that came into my mind was..._Whaaat?_

Does that mean I was in debt? I was in _debt_? Oh, I knew this was all too good to be true. The Necromancer put me in a debt. I had to work for the Necromancer. Well, it's a dream come true for a Jade-fangirl. But a _debt_? I hated debts! Of all people I have to repay, it just had to be Jade!

Someone shoot me in the head.

* * *

**Aha. Prologue: Done. See what Jade has in store for Anh in the next chapter!**

**What does these first few chapters have to do with the story line? Keep on reading and find out!**


	2. Chapter 1: Rescue Mission

**Chapter 1! I'll make a quick summary.**

**Jade has put me into a debt and now I'm working for him. So? What's this all about? Read and find out!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToA.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Rescue Mission**

I stared at myself in the mirror. After nodding, I changed the angle to have a look from that side. I was wearing a Malkuth uniform, except that mine looked a lot like Jade's minus the swallow tail cape.

Basically, I was wearing a long sleeved shirt with a black choker around my neck. The choker had a small cross charm hanging from it. Unlike Jade, I wasn't wearing any gloves, so my hands were bare. I was wearing the blue vest with gold buttons that buttoned oddly. Usually they would just button up like a blouse, but this one looked a lot like Jade's uniform. Along with the vest, I was wearing a blue mini-skirt (the vest wasn't tucked in), black leggings, and military boots that went as high as my knees. Luckily for me, they weren't heels. Around my waist was a black belt with two pouches on my right side and a slightly different pouch on my left. The left one looks to hold a weapon of some sort.

All right, the outfit all together wasn't that bad. But why was I wearing this again?

Earlier, Jade had gone out and bought me a lot of things. The uniform, contacts (I didn't even know they had contacts here. Lucky me!) , socks, and… lingerie. Fortunately for me, Jade just gave me the money as he threw me into the store that sells lingerie.

"Well, he doesn't have a girlfriend to have a reason to use money," I muttered. But even so…How much money did he have? There was a knock on the door and Jade walked in with a brown cloak.

"Are you ready?" he asked. I sheepishly gave him a nod. First day popping into the Tales of the Abyss game and already I was working. Mou! Could this day get any worse? Jade handed me the cloak, a hair band, and make-up. "You might want to change your appearance for now."

Oh, how I hated putting on make-up. Onto the point, I pulled the front of my dark hair back into a small ponytail; whatever I couldn't tie up I just moved behind my ear. Damn short hair. The front part of my hair was just below the shoulder line while the back of my hair was shoulder length. But it was still short! I left my bangs the way they were before: parted to the left with a small portion on the right. As for make-up, I put on what I thought might look nice. As if I was ever going to wear this again.

Once I was done, I grabbed my cloak and stared at it. "I hate the colour brown."

* * *

Jade was waiting for me at the entrance of the Inn. I was already wearing my cloak when I met up with him since he instructed me to put on the cloak before I left. He explained some details to me: I was on a rescue mission. Well, it's pretty obvious that the target was Ion, but Jade was asking (not like I had a choice) me to help him rescue Ion. Though I didn't know why he was doing this all by himself. Like…where the heck were his subordinates?

Once the both of us made it to the Cathedral, we entered it with ease. The guards thought we were just travellers doing the pilgrimage thingy. By the way, the Cathedral was HUGE! Just looking at it on the television screen was decent but up close in real life…IT'S BLOODY HUGE! Even the interior was huge. It took me practically everything in me to just suppress a big "Whoooaaa!". But since this was a professional job, I had to keep my cool.

We made our way into the first door that lead to the base of the Oracle Knights. There weren't a lot of soldiers, so sneaking around was pretty easy. The first floor consisted of stairs. A lot of them. Just when I thought I could avoid the huge stack of stairs from my university, a crap load of them appeared when I was here in Daath. Perfect, just perfect. Although I was sure Ion would be held in the Oracle Headquarters from the direction we were heading, it turned out he wasn't. Huh, that's weird. Then again, I don't think Ion would be held in the headquarters.

It wasn't until the second floor that things got tricky. Jade and I hid behind a pillar when an Oracle Knight on guard duty was heading towards that direction. Sheesh! Where was Anise when you needed her? Without her activating that fonic glyph, things were getting really tricky. Once the Oracle Knight passed us, I let out a silent sigh.

"That was close," I said. Jade nodded.

"Indeed, we need some form of distraction."

I nodded at that. But since this was a two-man rescue mission, how was that ever going to be possible? Unless… I froze when I realized his intentions. "You…don't mean…"

"Oh, you caught on pretty quickly," Jade smiled as he patted my head.

Dang it, his height makes me feel really short.

"You, my dear, are going to be the decoy."

"I'm the what?" I asked him.

"My oh my, you are being rather loud," Jade pointed out. "Which is why you are going to be a very good decoy."

I felt him shove me out into the open as I gawked at him for stating the fact that I was the decoy. I turned around so that I can flip him off. But when I turned around, Jade was already getting his head's start. I shook a fist at his direction. "This is not what we agreed on!"

"Who goes there?" I heard the Oracle Knight shout from behind. I grabbed the hood of my cloak and covered my face. Thank God for the hood. Once I got a good estimate of the distance between me and him, I bolted in the opposite direction of the Oracle Knight and right after Jade. Though I couldn't see him anymore, I wasn't focused on that part. Right then…

I need to flee for my life!

I heard the alarm sound and more Oracle Knights appeared through the doors I remember were locked from the inside. If only I remembered what door leads to the Fon Master's chamber! Oh, why did I forget then? I watched the anime and all, but that didn't tell me the exact location! I cursed myself for my forgetfulness.

I found myself in an empty room. It was about time I took a breather. I couldn't run very fast, but if my life depends on it, I most definitely would. Now I know why my friend flees like a crazy madman when a bee got near him. But his case was different from mine; his was just a phobia, mine was life or death. But the stairs…there were so many stairs.

My joints hurt.

"That damn Jade," I muttered to myself as I collected myself. "Didn't even give me a weapon to protect myself. Though it's not going to help me since I never used a weapon in my life." I sat there as I listened to the sounds outside.

By now, most of them couldn't find me in a room. I hoped… Well, it was time for me to get going.

I got up and brushed my cloak.

This mini-skirt gives me a lot of room to run around. Good thing it wasn't tight around my thighs, or I would have bashed Jade for it.

I opened the door and found myself face to face with another Oracle soldier. Well…I thought it was another Oracle soldier. I couldn't tell because they were all wearing that gaudy grey colour suit of theirs. It was worse in my case since my hood was down.

"Just my flipping luck." I sighed. Five seconds later, I bolted for the next door with that Oracle Knight in tow. Hopefully, that door had a locking mechanism from the inside, otherwise I was doomed. Once I opened the door, I didn't bother closing it because it would take a lot in me to just close that huge door and that Oracle Knight was right behind me. I just kept running towards the end of the hall and I got through the door and closed it hastily.

"I've…had enough of this…" I groaned at the closed door. "I give up…!"

"Why give up now?" A voice asked me from behind. I squeaked and turned around with my back on the door. In front of me were Jade and Ion, and Ion was the only one giving me a puzzled look. After blinking a couple of times, I forgot about my tiredness as my anger rose. I walked up to Jade, grabbed his collar with both of my hands and pulled him down so that he was down to my height.

"BASTARD!" I shouted. "How dare you turn me into a guinea pig without giving me a weapon! I'm not a sprinter for Pete's sake! Have you any idea how close I was to dying?"

"I figured a little exercise would be good for you as practice." Jade gripped my hands and jerked them away. He straightened up and fixed his collar, since I was close to choking him. "Besides, I'm too old for these things. You're asking someone my age to have as much energy as you do? Look on the bright side, at least you found the Fon Master." He guided my attention to Ion, who was baffled by my actions.

Ion was exactly how he looked in the game and anime. He had green hair, and the front of it was tied and left hanging on both sides of his face. He had a green headband with what looked like cheagle fur hanging from the sides as well. Ion possessed eyes that were the same colour as his hair. He was wearing the bright green robe that signified that the wearer is the Fon Master, though I swear it looked like a dress. He was holding a staff with the head matching the same symbol as the necklace he was wearing. It must have the symbol of the followers of Yulia and Lorelei, since a lot of people wore it.

"_You_ found him," I corrected Jade, turning my attention back to him. "I was too busy running for my life. You could have told me that you were going to make me as a decoy so that you can find where Ion is!"

"Didn't you ever hear the saying: To fool your enemies, you must fool your friends first?"

This man…

"Fine," I sighed, giving up. I was never going to win in an argument with him. "So how are we going to get out?"

"Simple." Jade told me as he flashed me a smile. I took a step back as I realized his intentions. "I've already made the arrangements."

"Say what?" I asked him. "I am so not going to be your decoy this time!" I walked up to him, intending to hit him with all I got. Next thing I knew, arms wrapped around me in a tight grip. I struggled within the grip as I was carried outside of the room. "Lemme go! I'm going to rip you to shreds if it's the last thing I'll do!" Well, not rip him to shreds, but it was the first thing that came into my mind.

"But if you do that, who's going to support you?" Jade asked in a joking manner. I shot him a glare as he led Ion out of the room. It wasn't until I was in the room closest to the door that they began to plan an escape. Jade was outside with Anise at the door. "We're counting on you, Anise."

Anise was wearing a pink Oracle Knight uniform with her shoulders bare, an overtop that fell down to her midriff with a long cape that extended down to her knees. The ends of her sleeves were mauve instead of pink, and she wore white gloves. Anise completed her attire with black boots and socks that went as high as her mid thighs with pink and mauve embroidery. Her raven hair was tied up into two pigtails on both sides on her head, held up by yellow ribbons. Her chocolate brown eyes beamed in excitement as she talked to Jade.

"Don't worry, Colonel!" Anise giggled. She set the doll on her shoulders and covered her mouth with her gloved fists as she lifted one leg up, ready to run any time now. "I got it all covered~!"

I sighed.

Why was I here doing this? I'd rather just jump into the story and do something else besides going through rigorous demands.

Luckily for me, I didn't have to do the running. Anise was planning to keep the guards at bay so that we had some time to escape. Hopefully it would be enough time.

* * *

We got out of the hallway without much problem, since Anise kept a lot of the Oracle Knights busy by freaking out that Ion was gone. She was good at that, faking panic and acting all cutesy towards others. We were up the stairs when the Oracle Knights ran through the door. I heard Jade sigh.

"It seems that Anise failed to keep them at bay." He grabbed my hood and lifted it over my head. "Time to initiate plan B."

"What plan B?" I asked him before I felt an odd sense of déjà vu when he shoved me down the stairs. Of course, I shouted at him as soon as I gained my balance, only to find that he was making a quick getaway with Ion. Then I ran, decoy yet again.

Let me get this straight. I _was_ a Jade-fangirl up until the point where I began being used as a guinea pig. Now I was stuck with this guy for the remainder of the game. Just my luck. Never wish for the impossible, because you never know what happens when you really hang out with your fangirl target.

* * *

I met up with Jade, Ion and Anise at the fourth monument. I rested my hand on a tree as I used it for support while trying to gasp for air. I was tired, I was sweaty, 15 years of my life might have gone by because I was being threatened by Oracle soldiers, and this day completely sucked.

What next? Oracle knights showing up and we have to run some more? Not a bad idea! I've already run like 50 kilometres or something! I slapped my cheeks. No time for stupid thoughts. Just stick around and things will certainly brighten up.

-page break-

"HAH?" I asked Jade. The four of us had boarded the Tartarus at the Daath harbour and were making our way to Grand Chokmah. Jade asked me to join him in another room to discuss something. I'd barely sat down on my chair when I was told something I could barely stand to hear. "You want _me_ to keep an eye on _Ion_? Go get Anise to do that! Heck, it's already her job to do that!"

"In case of an emergency, you are to be the Fon Master's bodyguard," Jade told me. His crimson eyes told me that I had no other choice. I sighed as I sat down on my chair. I folded my arms as I glared at him. There was more to this than just telling me to watch Ion. Jade pushed his glasses up when he was sure I was willing to listen to whatever else he has to say. "You are going to act as my second-in-command, but don't get me wrong. This rank is just for looks. You lack talent, I'm sure you couldn't fight even if your life depended on it. The reason why I have you at this rank is that you still need to repay me for my kindness. Think of this rank as a way for me to keep an eye on you." He said all of this with a reassuring smile.

This guy was completely mocking me!

I resisted the urge to just slam my hands onto the table and tell him I quit. But since he got my number, I couldn't refuse him. A soldier entered the room with a long package wrapped in a cloth. He remained silent as he set the item with a few more items, along with a long package, onto the table in between us and left the room in that same fashion. I stared at the thing in front of me.

"What is that?" I asked him.

"This," Jade said, tapping the package, "is going to be your weapon."

I stared at the package and decided to gently unwrap it. Underneath the cloth was a rifle. The weapon was completely black, and it had a scope; I couldn't tell what type of rifle it was, but it looked like it was meant to be carried by someone with my physique.

I blinked twice. Okay…Didn't think that they would go and make rifles around this time. Then again, I do recall Legretta using guns. I picked the weapon up and winced at the weight. It was quite heavy despite its looks; it would take a while to get used to. I examined the rifle carefully. Since I wasn't familiar with guns, I had to be extremely careful if I were to ever use it.

"It's a sniper rifle," Jade explained as he held out a small book for me to take. I picked it up and flipped through its contents as Jade continued. "Obviously, it's meant for shooting at a distance. Since you are not familiar with the front lines, this will have to do. Although this was the first one properly made, I'm sure there's nothing wrong with it."

N-Nothing wrong with it? Oh dear Lord. I was going to go into battle with a weapon that might accidentally kill me. Tell me this was all a dream…

"The bullets are specially made." Jade pulled out a small pouch with bullets in them. "I played around a bit and these bullets will pack a punch. There's fonons infused in them and once they hit a target, they will act very similar to my Energy Blast. The rifle is bolt action, do you know what those are?"

Sadly, I didn't, so I shook my head to tell him I had no clue. Jade sighed, and started to show me the ropes. Once I got the basics down, I was on the deck with Jade, practicing the bolt action thingy he was talking about. The package of bullets he gave me was in one of the pouches on my right. He also gave me a small gun meant for self-defence in close range battles, that gun was placed into my left pouch. I pretended to fire, unlocked the bolt, re-loaded, and went back into position repeatedly. Since it was my first time handling a weapon like that, it took me the whole day just to get used to the routine.

* * *

The trip to Grand Chokmah was going to take approximately a week. During that time, I was practicing with Jade, and when he was busy, I went with Ion and Anise to learn the writing characters of Auldrant. I needed to be at least a bit educated during my stay here. When all three were busy, I went with the military crew, doing whatever they did. Though I swear some of them hated me because I was just a random girl, yet I was promoted to be the Necromancer's second-in-command. However…they had no clue what I had to go through. I would rather be in their position than in the one I was currently stuck in.

Once we got to Grand Chokmah, I let out the long 'Whooaaa!" I'd been dying to say. Grand Chokmah was…well, to sum it all up, full of water. A lot of it. There were water fountains, water pipes, small rivers under bridges, a waterfall, and so much more! I could continue but the list would go on forever. The buildings were white, though I highly doubt they were smooth like marble, there were a decent amount of plants and it looked pretty lively.

Ah, I so wanted to live here if I were given the chance.

I heard Anise giggled beside me.

"Is this your first time to Grand Chokmah?" she asked me as we made our way to the palace. I nodded. I'd seen it in game, but it was huge, and much livelier than what I'd seen there. At the same time…it took way too long to get to the palace.

How I miss just sitting there on couch, pushing a control stick.

"I've never been here before," I responded. "It's my first time heading over to the palace. To be honest, I'm a little nervous. I didn't get much of a warm welcome on the Tartarus."

"Are you talking about those rowdy soldiers back on the Tartarus?" Anise asked with her hands on her hips. "Those guys are just jealous."

"Though I would trade any of them my position given the chance," I sighed as I adjusted my rifle. It was hidden in a carrying bag that was slung over my left shoulder. I didn't want to walk around in a city or town while leaving my rifle uncovered. It just made me more agitated to have curious glances in my direction.

"Why is that?" Anise asked. She gave me a smirk as she nudged my side. "You are a lucky girl to be at the Colonel's side."

"I'm his slave, for the love of God!" I muttered under my breath. Then I remembered that here they didn't have a God like I do, though Anise didn't notice my slip-up. I needed to choose my words carefully next time.

* * *

There was quite a welcome reception from the maids of the palace. I wasn't looking forward to meeting Peony.

"Thank you, Jade and his lovely girlfriend, for bringing in the Fon Master here safely!" Peony exclaimed. My eye twitched in anger. Once Peony requested to Ion to bring a letter to Kimlasca, he asked Jade to bring me to his chambers to thank me personally after Ion and Anise returned to the Inn. That was the exact reason why I wasn't not looking forward to personally meet the Emperor.

"I am _not_ his girlfriend!" I corrected Peony. Jade, behind me, sighed at the misunderstanding. I tried my best not to sound that angry, but it wasn't going too well. "Besides, I'm already in a relationship!"

"With Jade~!"

"I have a boyfriend, and he's not Jade." I pointed a finger at Jade, furious. "Also, he's too old for me! Why am I here in the first place? I'm going back to check on Ion!"

"She's very lively!" I heard Peony commented when I reached the door. I opened the door and left the room, my face red with anger. I didn't need to be harassed by Peony! Jade was bad enough!

Which reminds me…

I slapped my palm onto my face. I was being disrespectful to Malkuth's Emperor. My superior's…uh…He's really Jade's best friend but whatever! What the heck was I thinking?

* * *

When I got back to the inn, I headed straight for my room and plopped myself down onto the bed. Anise joined me in my room since she saw me being all...bleh... I had to explain to her what happened after the two of them left and well...she giggled.

"The Emperor likes to flirt with a lot of women," Anise said.

"Yeah, I already knew that part," I mumbled. "But I just walked out on the Emperor after he made me mad!"

"There's nothing wrong with that," Jade said as he entered the room. "His Majesty just wanted to get a good look at you before he sends us off on our next mission."

"We're heading to Kimlasca after we receive the letter, right?" Ion asked him.

"Yes, the letter should be complete by tomorrow morning so we leave first thing in the morning when the letter arrives," Jade replied. "So don't wander around outside of the city." That last line was directed mainly at me.

As if I had any intention to run away.

"Yessir," I mumbled, waving a hand without much effort. I heard the door close. Jade must had left. I sighed as I turned my head over. Ion tapped me on the shoulder. I looked at him.

"Do you mind coming with me to the market?" he asked.

"Why not ask Anise?" I was puzzled by the question. I looked around the room. Anise was nowhere to be seen. Just where did she go? I shrugged. "I guess I could accompany you."

* * *

We walked through the market and picked up some items along the way. Most of them were cheap. And yes, I was using Jade's money to pay for these things, so I had to be really careful about what I bought. It wasn't much anyway.

"You really don't like spending a lot, do you?" Ion asked when I returned with a package of ear plugs. Ion looked at it. "What are those for?"

I held it out so that Ion can get a closer look at the items. "Since I'm using a gun, I need to protect my ears. I think the rifle has a silencer equipped to it, but I'm just being cautious." I looked at Ion as we started walking back to the Inn.

Was he really taller than me? I wa four years older than him! I felt short for my age… Why were all main characters in every Tales game so ridiculously tall? The tallest in most of the groups are around six feet! SIX!

"Do you think we can stop at Engeve?" Ion asked, interrupting my train of thought.

"Engeve…?" I repeated. Now that I thought about it, we were supposed to head over to Engeve after we gave the Dark Wings a chase to the Rotelro bridge. We would meet up with Luke and Tear at the Cheagle Woods the day after.

"I heard that there seem to be a problem with the food storage over there," Ion explained. "They were looking for the culprit and I want to have a look at what's going on."

"Is it because Engeve is close to the Cheagle Woods that you wanted to go and check it out?" I asked Ion. Ion paused as he thought about his answer. "You don't need to tell me. I understand. I'll see if I can run it through Jade."

Ion's face brightened. "Thank you, Anh."

No problem, Ion. If only Jade will be able to listen to me.

* * *

"Absolutely not." Jade answered me when I asked him that question later on in the day without looking up from his paper work. It took me a while to find his office, but I eventually found it with some instructions from the other soldiers there. I sighed. It was obvious that he would say no, but I didn't think he'd say it that fast. "We have to hand the letter to King Ingobert as soon as possible."

"But, Jade," I whined. I was putting on my best pleading look; I didn't use it very often, since I rarely begged people to do something. "A small detour wouldn't hurt, would it?"

"Again, no." Jade didn't bother looking up from his work, and the pleading face failed.

"The letter takes priority, I know I know." I sighed. "I'll just have to tell Ion the bad news then."

"Now that we got that part cleared up…" Jade looked up from his work and stood up. He turned to face the window with his hands behind his back. "We could go to Engeve after the letter is delivered. For the time being, go back to the Inn and rest up. We leave at first light…Lieutenant Colonel."

He turned around to give me a smirk as he called me 'Lieutenant Colonel'. I gave him a pout, then stuck out my tongue in a childish way before I walked out of his office.

Not like he had a choice. The Dark Wings will destroy the bridge; we'll have to make that detour to Engeve regardless. Ha ha ha. Beat that, Jade.

* * *

I returned to the Inn and told Ion that we 'might', making air quotation marks, head over to Engeve after we delivered the letter. Ion was a bit disappointed, but there's not much I could do. Things would fall into its place even if I said nothing. Well…it would be better that I say nothing. No need to look suspicious.

I lay on my bed as I thought of things; I looked at my ring that was on my right hand. It came with me along with the earrings. I was wearing both of them when I went to bed before I found myself in the game, and they served as a reminder of my family, my friends and my boyfriend. They also served as a reminder that I had to find a way to get back. Hopefully I would. I clutched the ring as I turned over to the side.

Things were not going to run smoothly for the next few days. But I don't think it was going to be _that_ bad.

* * *

**Chapter 1: done. I wanted to get this part over as fast as I can and it looks like I did. Anywho, we'll get to the main story in the next chapter! Look forward to it!**


	3. Chapter 2: Shoot!

**I'm typing and updating this much faster than my other fics. O.o Shows how dedicated I am to my other ones. Damn plot bunny…**

**Chapter 2! We get to the main part!**

**Read on!**

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* * *

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**Chapter 2: Shoot!**

I take it back.

I take it all back!

I take what I said before back. Things were running horribly! I was forced to wake up early (and by early I meant when it was still dark out. DARK!) since some of the citizens were complaining about thieves, most likely the Dark Wings. They didn't go too far and the military caught them, but they managed a quick getaway. All of the stolen items were returned to their proper owners. I would know, since I was the one doing the returning part. As soon as I got that task cleared, I boarded the Tartarus along with Ion and Anise so that we could give the Dark Wings a chase.

"I'm tired," I declared in the room where I was keeping an eye on Ion and Anise. I sat on a chair, backwards I might add, with a heavy sigh. I rested my head on the back of the chair while I let my arms sway at my sides. The cloak that I had was folded neatly into my bag and my hair was now down instead of being tied up, though the majority of my hair was tucked behind my ear. Since my hair was layered, a small portion still covered my ears, albeit less.

"Well, you _did_ wake up early to deliver all of the stolen goods," Anise pointed out. "I would be tired if I had to do all of that. But look at the bright side," she said, hopping right next to my chair and giving me her best grin. "At least you are being paid."

I gave her my 'Are you completely mad?' look. She had no idea why I was here and why I was doing all this. I had a debt I had yet to pay off. The provider of my financial needs as well as the cause of my distress was none other than Jade. I couldn't help myself. I had no money, I had no job, I was down to my last set of clothes, I was so not going to sell my last bit of jewelry and I had no freaking clue how I got here on Auldrant. What else could I do? Turn down Jade's offer and watch my life go miserably by? Hell no.

By the way, there was no profit on my side.

The reason: I was an illegal immigrant from Earth that magically appeared in Auldrant. If I were to get paid, I presumed that they need to search up my records and stuff. Since I didn't possess anything of that sort, I could have been thrown into jail. Could have is the key word here. So yes, Jade was my main supply of money.

And thanks to his offer, I became his second-in-command by name. I had no interest in military work and I was only called for the small fry stuff. For example: Look after Ion, return the stuff that was stolen from the Dark Wings, hand these letters to this and that person, blah blah blah. They were nothing more than simple tasks from Jade. It's wasn't a lot, but it was better than nothing.

'_I'm stuck in a fictional world with a fictional status, and I'm doing actual work for a fictional character. Isn't that wonderful?_' I thought to myself. I brought my arms onto the chair and buried my face into my arms. '_My life sucks...'_

"Lieutenant Colonel!" I turned around to see one of the soldiers who worked at the bridge salute me. I was not used to that Lieutenant Colonel status of mine, so it took me a while to notice that it was directed to me, and I quickly got up and saluted back. "The Colonel says that you should report to the bridge."

"Again?" I whined. Then I sighed. There was nothing I could do about it. "I understand." I groaned, then stood up and gave a quick glance to Ion and Anise. Seeing that they would be alright on their own, I followed the soldier out of the room.

It was too quiet on the way to the bridge. I really disliked the silence unless I was by myself, so I wanted to strike a conversation. I asked, "What is the current status of the chase?"

"The Dark Wings are heading to the Rotelro Bridge," the soldier answered. My eyes widened.

Oh, is that so? This I had to see. I ran to the bridge as soon as I heard that. It was just like what the soldier said. Up ahead was the Rotelro Bridge and I was just in time for the big show. So were Luke and Tear. I saw the carriage that they were in, trying to avoid the line of fire from the Tartarus.

"The enemy set off fonic artes using the Fifth Fonon! The bridge is going to explode!"

Jade looked behind himself, at me. He pushed his glasses up before returning his attention to the issue at hand. "Tartarus, full stop." Jade instructed. "Activate fonic barrier."

My, he handled the situation so calmly. Better than what I could do, that was for sure. I sighed as I braced myself for the full stop. I heard the soldiers repeating Jade's command as the Tartarus halted and the fonic barrier was activated. Though the Tartarus was a good distance away from the explosion, the force of it must have been powerful if the barrier was up. I hoped Anise and Ion were coping pretty well with the halt and stuff. I'd been expecting it, but they'd probably been caught off guard. I looked at the Rotelro bridge before the Tartarus.

"So what now, Colonel?" I asked him. Jade looked at me as if I was trying to prove my point. I pointed to the Rotelro bridge.

"Since the bridge is now destroyed, we could make our way to Engeve," Jade muttered. I looked at him with a weird stare.

"Eh?"

"Didn't Ion ask you to make this request to me?" Jade asked. "I asked His Majesty to deliver the letter to Engeve. Turn the Tartarus around, we're heading to Engeve."

"Yes sir!"

I patted Jade on the back. Aww...so he did have a nice side. "I knew you would come around, old man. Now why am I here? Is there something you need me to do?"

"There was a coach that was in the line of fire while we were chasing the Dark Wings." Jade explained to me.

I didn't like where this is going.

"Luckily they managed to get out of the way, but I would like it if you could just drop by and check to see if they got out unharmed."

Oh, you have got to be kidding me.

* * *

Nope. Turns out he wasn't joking. I was dropped off in front of the carriage as the Tartarus went over in the direction of Engeve. I sighed internally; at least he gave me my bag with my weapon inside instead of leaving me empty-handed.

Well, might as well get this thing over with; the carriage was bound to Engeve anyway.

I walked up to the coachman and held out my hand.

"I'm Lieutenant Colonel Anh Le," I introduced myself to him. He shook it gratefully as soon as I introduced myself. "I'm from the Third Division of the Malkuth Imperial Forces. Is everything alright?"

"Yes, everyone here is fine," the coachman told me. I nodded. Of course they were okay.

"In the place of my commanding officer, I apologize for the earlier incident." I looked over to the passengers of the coach. Yep, I saw two people I know very well.

A male with long red hair and golden ends, his hair was spiky and it was parted to the left as small portion of his hair partly covered the edge of his emerald eyes. He was wearing a short-sleeved white jacket that revealed a nice set of abs and extended all the way down to his ankles. It looked to be parted somewhere near his midriff, and was split into two. It was evident that Luke was wearing a black shirt underneath that white jacket, since the sleeves of the shirt were longer than the sleeves of the jacket. Luke had brown fingerless gloves that had a loose, belt-like buckle around his wrist. From the direction the sword handle was facing, he was left-handed. He had black baggy-looking pants that were held up by a yellow-brown belt. Along with the pants, there were black shoes with dark red lining on them.

To his right, a female with long brown hair that parted to the right side of her face, her hair covering her right eye. She possessed a serious look in her blue eyes. Tear was in a brown sleeveless Oracle Knight uniform that went high up to her neck. The top was lined with a golden touch and three white strips, the two further ones were much thicker than the one in the middle, running all the way down the uniform in the middle. Underneath the uniform was a red turtleneck that was also sleeveless. Her gloves that were also brown went up to her upper arm; it also had a touch of gold. The glove ended with white from her wrists to her finger tips. Her boots were designed in a similar fashion as her gloves.

Good to know that Luke and Tear were here, though neither of them seemed happy to see me. Well, duh, I was representing the enemy nation here. I turned my attention back to the coachman. "I'm glad that there were no injuries. May I ask if this coach heads over to Engeve?"

"Yes…"

"Is it possible for me to get a ride to there?" I asked him. "If there's a fee, it can be paid." He nodded. I sat in the coach after I paid for the ride, 12, 000 Gald down the drain. Fudge. Not only did I use the remainder of the Gald Jade had given me for 'emergency' funding; I practically had no means of collecting all of that back. I crossed my arms as I glared at whatever was out at the window. Might as well take it out by glaring things down, but all I saw were plains, fields of grass and occasional rocks. Tired of the scenery outside, I looked around in the carriage to see who else was sitting with me.

Minus Luke and Tear, there were two other noblemen that were probably making their way to the capital. Luke, who was sitting across from me, was giving me an intent stare during the whole ride. I turned to him and gave him a friendly smile.

"Is something wrong?" I asked him in a friendly tone. Luke shook it off and looked out of the window. I sighed and did the same. Not too friendly now, are we? For the remainder of the trip, the only thing I could think about was the money I had wasted for this ride. 12, 000 Gald used equaled more debt.

I hated my predicament right now.

Once we reached Engeve, I walked past Luke and Tear towards the market. Engeve was popular for its livestock and crops, and from what I saw, there were a lot of both. In the market, there were a lot of stands set up with a variety of fruits and vegetables; even seafood was among the selections. Aside from the market, there was a small series of houses over to my right. The market and the houses were separated by a small river, there was even a small watermill beside a house.

I walked over the bridge to look at the houses over there. They were simple enough from the outside; they had white walls with a wooden door, what looked to be haystacks serving as a roof. There were vines on some of the walls. Though it looked nice, it was an old design from my point of view. It would be considered the best for these people, though. The villagers here were working hard in the fields, and I smiled to myself internally. I made a quick loop around the village and I headed back to the market just to check things out.

Rather, I was going to return to the market to look at the produce until Ion tugged on my sleeve.

"Fon Master," I greeted. I inclined my head in his presence. "Do you need something?"

Ion brought his finger to his lips. "I left Anise's side so that I can go inspect the storehouse."

Er…why would he do that? I thought Anise would most definitely allow Ion to go inspect the storehouse…unless she was going to go make demands to the villagers here so that Ion wouldn't have to do the inspecting. Knowing Anise...Most likely.

"Wait, where is Anise?" I asked Ion.

Ion looked at the exit of the village. "Anise is still over on the Tartarus. I just made my way here after Jade left."

Whoa. Talk about curiosity taking over.

'_This is why you cause us so much trouble, Ion_…' I sighed mentally to myself. First things first. Ion took priority because I had been ordered to keep an eye on him.

"It's going to take a while before she gets here," I laughed. "In the meantime, we can go check the storehouse together."

I regretted saying that after I saw how big the storehouse was. The storehouse was right next to the inn; since the owner of the Inn was gone, we just let ourselves into the storehouse.

Why were there so many wooden boxes? I could hurt myself just by moving them around.

But I refused to allow Ion to do the moving, so I did it in his place. Ion was going through areas where it was bare; he even looked in the boxes, but then closed them if he didn't find anything in them. Some of the boxes that I moved were lighter than most. It must have been because those boxes were raided by the thieves.

After searching through the area, and after moving them back to their original places, Ion came across something while I came out empty-handed. I was searching through the large area of the storage while Ion was in the smaller one right next to it. I stared at the item in his hand. It looked like a white puff of dust in his hand.

"Uh…what's that?"

"Fur from a cheagle." Ion answered.

Right…I knew that.

"Let's show this to Jade." Ion suggested. "He should still be at Rose's house."

I couldn't agree more to that idea. That had been such a back-breaking task. I was never going to do that ever again. Once we made our way to Rose's house, there were a lot of people standing in front of her door. Wow. That was fast. The villagers bringing Luke to Rose's house, that is. Luke must not have put up that much of resistance. Ion looked at me as if I had to do something with the large crowd.

Well…here goes.

I took a deep breath as a series of lines on what I should say went through my head.

"Please stand aside," I commanded in a stern yet quiet voice, "And allow Fon Master Ion to pass through."

Alright, that didn't sound very professional at all, but it was the best I could come up with.

There was whispers that was repeating 'Fon Master?' and 'Fon Master Ion is here!' while they made room for Ion to walk through. Ion gave me a look that said "thank you" before he made his way into the house.

"…the Dark Wings fled towards Kimlasca." I heard Jade say as I, too, walked into the house. "I can assure you that these two are not with them."

"They don't appear to be mere food thieves either," Ion spoke up as he entered Rose's house.

"Fon Master Ion…" Jade muttered. Like everyone inside of the house, his attention was on Ion. His gaze turned towards me as I was tailing Ion, and then went back to Ion. The people running the vendors that were inside of the house moved out of the way to give Ion a clear path. I just remained near the doorway as I watched Tear and Luke carefully. Tear was also focusing her attention on me since we had just met each other on the carriage earlier.

"I was a bit curious, so I investigated the food storehouse with Anh." Ion walked up to Rose and handed her the cheagle fur. "I found this in the corner of the room."

"This is fur from a sacred cheagle," Rose said once she had analyzed the material.

"Yes, a cheagle is what probably raided your food stores." Ion confirmed. I saw Luke turn his head upright as he proved everybody wrong about him being the thief.

"See!" Luke said obnoxiously. "I told you I wasn't the thief."

Most of the people looked around sheepishly since they had all jumped into the wrong conclusion.

"But you did eat that apple before paying," Tear pointed out. "You need to learn not to do things that will make you look suspicious."

Luke turned his attention to Tear and gave her a scowl. "How was I supposed to know? I didn't know you had to pay."

Oh good grief. Even _I_ knew I had to pay, though I wasn't that sheltered like Luke…

"Misunderstandings happen," I told the two of them as I moved out of the way. I recalled earlier when Peony had immediately decided that Jade and I were in a relationship, and shuddered at the thought. That had been a huge misunderstanding in comparison to this one. A middle aged man with an eighteen-year-old girl. Yes, that totally makes sense, Peony. Totally.

Rose clapped her hands so that everyone in the room (aside from Jade and Ion, who were discussing something) focus their attention on her. "Well, sounds like that takes care of that. I think you all have something to say to this boy and his friend?"

"Sorry I'm late, Jade." I apologized to Jade when I approached him and Ion. I heard the men running the vendors apologize to Luke and in turn, Luke let it go without making a big deal out of it. "I would have reported earlier but the Fon Master comes first."

'_It was, after all, my duty to keep an eye on Ion like you told me to._' I thought to myself. '_That and the fact that you are scary._'

Ion was looking at Luke, and Luke was also looking back at Ion. I stared at the two of them. Ion continued staring at the door even when Luke left.

"Fon Master Ion?"

He turned his attention back to us."O-Oh. I'm sorry."

Jade pushed his glasses up and crossed his arms. "Though I am upset that you left the Tartarus without an escort."

He wasn't not the only one who was upset. I could think of two more, and I would be one of them. Speaking of the other worrier…I looked around the house. "By the way…where is Anise?"

"Ah! I found you, Ion!" Anise chirped as she ran up to us. Speak of the devil! She came in at the right moment. Anise turned to look at me. "Oh, Anh! You made it! How was the slight detour?"

"Yes, Anh, how was the detour?" Jade joined in. The expression on his face said that he wanted to know if I had spent any Gald he lent me. The face I made practically explained how much I disliked it, since I had wasted a good 12, 000 Gald on my way here.

"It looks like she doesn't want to talk about it," Anise laughed as she turned back to Ion. "Ion! Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

Ion smiled at the raven haired girl. "It was all right, Anise, I had Anh keep me company."

Anise sighed. "You're lucky that she was there. You could have gotten into a lot of trouble if you have gone missing. Oh! Speaking of missing! I ran into this couple at the Inn and they told me you would be here. I also heard from the redhead guy that-"

"That would be Luke," Jade nodded. He motioned Anise to continue. "Do go on."

"He said that you were kidnapped." She stared at Jade and I, since we _were_ the two that had helped Ion escape Daath. "This is bad. A rumour has already been spread around. It's likely that the entire Grand Maestro Moh's faction will be out to search for you Ion. And for the kidnapper."

"And they would assume that it would be Anh." Jade cast a side glance to me. He pointed to me. "After all, it was _her_ face that was revealed when she was scurrying about."

"I wonder why…" I mumbled.

We made a reservation at the inn so that Ion could get some rest. Rather, it was much safer if we made the reservation at the inn instead of going back to the Tartarus. Who knew when we would be attack by Moh's faction. The rooms were split up into two since it would be better for both of us, one soldier for each room. Yes…the room I took was with Jade. Jade wasn't in the room with me, since he went out to check on the Tartarus. I took this opportunity to get some rest since I was more tired than I thought I would be.

* * *

I woke up with sunlight shining onto my face. I grumbled as I turned over to avoid the burning glare that was piercing through my eyelids and searched for my cell phone to check the time. It wasn't until I touched the pillow's edges that I realized that this was not my pillow, and that I was not at home. I sat up groggily as rubbed my eyes. I stared out of the window where light was pouring from it.

"Leave me alone, sun," I groaned as I covered myself with the blanket.

Wait a second…it was morning already? I shot up from my bed as one thing came into mind.

"Ion," I muttered. I jumped out of bed and struggled to put on my boots as fast as I could. I grabbed my vest as I darted out of the room while trying to put it on. I opened the door to Anise and Ion's room and I found out that neither of them were in the room.

Now this I had to report to Jade.

I closed the door and ran out of the Inn. It wasn't until I realized that I shared a room with Jade that I had to run back to see if he was there.

Turns out he wasn't.

Thank you so much, Jade, for leaving me in the dust…

Well, if he wasn't here, then he might be at Rose's house. I hurried over there without buttoning up my vest. But I somehow found the time to deal with my hair since it was messed up at the very back.

I knocked on Rose's door and anxiously waited for her to answer it. She did, a few seconds later, up and early unlike me. Rose stared at me since I was in such disarray. "Do you need something, dear?"

"I'm so sorry to disturb you at a time like this," I apologized to Rose, though I didn't think I needed to do that. I just wanted to be careful. "Did you see the Colonel? I can't seem to find him."

"The Colonel? No I haven't."

Balls.

"Ah, thank you, then." I gave her a quick bow. "If the Colonel drops by, by any chance, will you please tell him that I'm off to the Cheagle Woods?"

"Sure thing," Rose gave me a nod. "You might want to button your uniform, dear!" I gasped as I hastily buttoned up my vest. I thanked Rose once more before I went off to catch up with Ion. But not before I ran back to the Inn to collect my bag. I lifted it over my shoulders, and left Engeve as fast as I can.

I ran for at least a good five minutes before stopping to drop my rifle bag onto the ground. "Why are you so heavy?" I asked the rifle even, though I knew I wasn't going to get an answer from it.

I lifted the bag back up and continued. Seriously, this rifle was a pain. Ignoring that part, there was a path that led all the way to Cheagle Woods. Good for me, because I didn't have a map on me and it would be disastrous in my case since I had a horrible sense of direction.

I made occasional stops just to rest because of the weight of the rifle. I really hated it right now. I also ran into some monsters on the way. Of course, I didn't bother to fight them; I ran for my life instead. I was never a melee person and I wasn't about to become one now. Plus, the rifle was heavy.

Did I mention how heavy it was?

I swear I didn't get it! This world was fictional and yet all the things here were completely real! Weapons, monsters, food, heck even pain was real! This didn't make any sense! I mean…If I was thrown into Legend of Zelda and it became my reality, how the heck would Link still be able to run around with two sets of armour, iron boots, a fishing rod, bow and arrows, as well as two different blades and shields and so many more items that all fit into that small tunic of his? He even pulled them out of his pocket! Did his pocket have some huge black hole that spat things out when he needed them?

Or maybe Kirby lived in his pockets…

Enough of the irrational thoughts; I needed to catch up with Ion. Being chased by monsters was really hindering me, and at the same time, getting me to reach Cheagle Woods faster.

I finally caught up with Ion, who was just about to enter the Cheagle Woods.

"Ion!" I made a loud whining shout. Ion stopped before turning around to see who was calling him. "Wait for me!"

I sighed in relief when Ion decided to wait for me. Once I caught up to him, I technically broke down. I sat onto the ground in a formal sitting position with both my hands on my thighs as I gasped for air. Oh, this was way too tiring.

"What are you doing here, Anh?" Ion asked me when I wasn't too busy panting. I quickly collected myself, but my throat seemed a bit too dry.

"I was told to keep an eye on you," I answered him as we enter the woods.

There's only one thing to describe about this place.

Green.

Everything was green. You would think there would be some diversity of colour here but everything here was frickin' green! Dark green, light green, peridot (yes, this is a shade of green as well), every bloody shade of green! Everything you could see (other than the monsters that is) was some shade of green; the trees the leaves, the grass, the ferns, and a bunch of other plants. Heck, even the rocks that were normally some other colour were covered in _green_ moss. The tree barks was no different; covered in _green_ moss. Even the things that were dead and rotting were green.

The sight of the colour green would most likely sicken me later on.

I heard Ion collapse onto the ground. I got onto my knees and patted his back. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," he told me. I opened my mouth to deny that 'he's fine' but closed it when there was some rustling noise. My head snapped up to search the surroundings. There wasn't anything out there besides growling.

That was just lovely. Growling.

Soon after, a wolf decided to reveal itself to us. It slowly approached us, although it was approaching us cautiously, and my first instinct was to put myself in between Ion and the wolf. I swore to myself when I did.

There was barely enough time for me to whip my bag over my head so that I could pull out my rifle. I would be killed the moment I did that as well. My last weapon of choice was the little gun that was placed on my left pocket.

Eh…It wasn't like I had a choice in this situation.

I pulled out the small gun and fired at the wolf. And…I missed. The shot flew past the wolf, but it diverted the wolf's attention to the bullet. The bullet hit a tree and it startled the wolf with a small bang and flash. The wolf was growling as it moved its head to the side as if it was trying to shake something off.

"Wow…it's like a stun gun…" I said, shocked. I winced a little bit. The bullet was sent off with a bang indeed. I had this ringing sound in my ears now. I rubbed my ear with my free hand as the wolf collected itself. It turned its attention back as us and it appeared to get ready to pounce at us.

Oh, this sucked.

"Note to self," I told myself. "Learn to aim."

No wonder Jade told me it was meant for self-defense. Shoot, then run. Why didn't he put it that way? Next thing I knew, two more wolves joined in and this time they appeared from the left and from the right. By now, we were stuck. I couldn't do anything because if I fired one more shot, the other two would attack instantly without giving me much time to shoot.

Oh, this sucked hardcore.

Just when I thought this was the end, a soft light enveloped Ion's hand and a fonic glyph appeared from underneath us as he slammed his hand down onto the ground. As if the glyph had scared the wolves, they attacked immediately. Rays of light shot up from the glyph and destroyed the wolves when they pounced into the air. It ended so quickly, I dropped my gun in disbelief.

Instead of protecting Ion, I ended up being protected _by_ him.

"Are you okay, Anh?" he asked me as he tried to get up by himself. He managed to stand up for a few seconds before his legs gave way. I caught him before his head hit the ground, but I was still shaken up from the wolves.

"Hey!" I heard Luke shout at us. From where we were, Luke and Tear were on an upper ledge. Once the two of us looked up at them, they hastily made their way down to see if either of us were okay. I was completely fine. But Ion…

* * *

**Well. That's all of chapter two. Thanks for reading!**

**By the way, guess which Legend of Zelda I was referencing to. XD**


	4. Chapter 3: Cheagle Chase

**I initially planned to put the entire Cheagle Woods thing into one chapter. Obviously that was not going to work.**

**I would love to thank my lovely editor, Carrot, who took her time out of trouble to go and read this over.**

**Without further adieu! Chapter 3!**

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* * *

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**Chapter 3: Cheagle Chase**

"Hey, are you okay?" Luke asked Ion. Both Ion and I were on the ground by the time Luke and Tear caught up to us. Ion was on his knees panting heavily, while I was kneeling right beside him with one hand on his back.

"I-I'm fine." He responded in between his panting. "I just used a powerful Daathic arte…" Tear held out her hand so that Ion can take hold of it and helped him up. I made sure that he wasn't falling by holding out my hands near him; when he was standing up perfectly fine, I lowered my arms.

"Are you okay?" Tear asked me as she held out her hand so that she can help me up as well. I just nodded and took her hand gratefully as she helped me up. I started to brush the grass from my legs when Ion looked at Luke and Tear.

"Oh, you two were from Engeve yesterday." Ion was looking back and forth between Luke and Tear.

"I'm Luke," Luke introduced himself as he inched closer to Ion. He folded his arms when he said that. From where I was, he looked like he was more concerned with Ion's health.

Huh…so he does have a nice side with that arrogance.

Ion turned towards Luke with a smile. "Luke…that means 'light of the sacred flame' in Ancient Ispanian. That's a nice name." Luke blushed and turned his head away. I couldn't help but giggle a little bit at his expression.

"I'm Locrian Sergeant Tear Grants," Tear said with one hand on her bosom. She expressed a kind smile towards Ion. "First Platoon, Oracle Knights Intelligence Division, under Grand Maestro Moh's command."

"Ah, you're Van's younger sister," Ion noted as he turned to Tear, and smiled at her like he had at Luke. "I've heard of you. This is the first time we have met, isn't it?"

"You're Master Van's sister?" he asked completely shocked, his jaw was completely open as if someone had suddenly winded him. "Then what was with you trying to kill him?"

"Kill him…?" Ion asked in confusion.

Tear shook her head, not wanting to reveal anything. "Sorry, it's nothing. Just something between us."

"Don't try to avoid the question!" Luke shouted.

"It's…I…" Tear looked to her left sheepishly as she attempted to give an explanation.

"Hey, if she doesn't want to say why then don't interrogate her any further." I pinned Luke with a glare. He immediately backed off with a grunt and crossed his arms. Wow. I never thought that that would work on him. I sighed and took a step back. "You both may know me as Lieutenant Colonel Anh, but just call me Anh. I dislike the status that was given to me."

Luke raised an eyebrow at my last sentence. "What do you mean by that…?"

I sighed. I knew this was coming sooner or later. "Well, thing is…" There was a rusting noise behind me and I turned around to see what was there. I saw a cheagle pop its head up from behind a tree root, and then hide itself when all four of us stared at it. It then poked its head out again curiously and stared at us in turn.

The cheagle had yellow fur and big blue eyes. Its face was covered in white fur and from where we were, it looked like it has a small patch of white fur somewhere near its bottom. It has large ears that looked a bit too big for its size, and at the end of the ears it had spiky, yet puffy looking white fur. The cheagle had small forepaws and paws which indicate that it was likely a pretty fast runner. The look on its eyes was way too adorable.

I immediately squealed. "Kyaaa~! It's soo cute~!"

"What the…? What's wrong with you?" Luke demanded, covering his left ear since I was close to him. I pointed towards the cheagle and Luke sighed since I apparently misunderstood his question.

"It's a cheagle!" Ion identified the creature. I jumped up and down like a little kid with my hands near my chest.

"It's so cute~!" I repeated.

"You seriously have some issues, woman," Luke growled. I immediately stopped acting like a child and rolled my eyes at Luke. Tear had a blush on her face and she was covering her mouth with her gloved hand.

Maybe she's covering her mouth so that she won't admit how cute it was out loud.

Luke turned his attention back to the cheagle that was already running away. "So, they do live here! Come on! We're going to catch it!" Luke dashed right after the cheagle. I stared at him in pure shock.

"Don't do that!" I cried, picking up my weapon, stashed it into its pocket and ran after him. Ion and Tear didn't follow since they seemed to be discussing something. "You'll scare it even more!"

"I don't need to do that!" He shouted back at me. "Cause you're one doing that!"

"_You're_ the one chasing it!" I snapped at him. Luke suddenly stopped and I had to run to the side so that I didn't bump into him. Instead, I lost my balance and fell on my butt. I winced in pain as I rubbed it. "Why did you stop?"

Luke responded with a grunt before he turned around. I looked back to see who he was staring at. At the bottom of the hill, Tear and Ion were still discussing about something. Neither of us could hear what both were talking about since we're at the top of the hill.

"Those two are going to slow us down…" Luke muttered before taking a deep breath. "Hey! It's going to get away!"

I winced as I covered both of my ears. Well…now we're even. I screamed in your ear, you screamed in mine. I sighed. Why did he spend time to tell Tear and Ion that it's going to get away? I watched Tear and Ion exchange a few more words before catching up with us.

Luke was tapping his foot on the ground impatiently when Tear and Ion caught up with us. Once we had regrouped, we continued our way to find the cheagles. The only slight difference here was that Luke was walking much faster than any of us. We just made our way up another hill before Luke looked hastily around in search of the cheagle we met before.

"Argh!" Luke shouted in frustration as he ruffled his hair. He looked past me at Tear and Ion who was taking their time catching up to us. "You see? It got away! Could you two be any slower?"

"Don't take your anger out on them for something _you_ decided to do!" I shouted at him for barking at Tear and Ion. "Besides! If you wanted to catch that cheagle, you should have just run after it instead of telling Tear and Ion to hurry up!"

"Please calm down, the both of you!" Ion begged. He pointed to the path up ahead of us with his staff. Both Luke and I looked over our shoulders to see the direction Ion was pointing to. It was nothing but a straight path. "The nesting ground should be up ahead."

"You seem to know a lot about them," Luke commented, looking back at Ion.

"Oh, um…Actually, I was curious about the thefts in Engeve and did a little looking." Ion said. "Cheagles are intelligent and peaceful creatures. It's not like them to steal food."

Luke paused for a bit before sighing. "Well, looks like we're both headed to the same place."

Ion's brow furrowed in confusion. He looked between Luke and Tear. I would be shocked too since neither of them have much of a reason to go see the chealges. Besides catching them that is. "The two of you came here to investigate the cheagles, too?"

"I'm not gonna just let people accuse me of things I didn't do," Luke said to Ion with his arms crossed. "And you're coming with us."

"What about me?" I asked pointing to myself. Luke cast a side-glance in my direction.

"You can just leave."

"WHAT?"

"Please let her come along," Ion pleaded to Luke. "It would cause a lot of trouble is she leaves now."

Yes, Luke. It would cause _me_ a great deal of trouble. Anise would whine about Ion's safety and both Jade and Anise would drag my ass back here if I went back to them without Ion. And he's not planning to leave any time soon.

Luke hesitated as he thought about it. "Fine, she comes along too. But only because Ion said so."

Tear frowned as she crossed her arms. "How can you think of taking Fon Master Ion somewhere so dangerous?"

"Then what do you want to do with him?" Luke snapped at Tear. "He'll just come wandering back here on his own."

I sighed. I totally agree with you, Luke. Ion would wander back here regardless.

"…I'm sorry," Ion apologized. He looked down on the ground. He cast his gaze back up at Luke. "I just have to know. Cheagles are the sacred beasts of our Order, after all."

"See?" Luke huffed. He opened his palm and directed it to Ion that told Tear to have a really good look at Ion. "Besides, we can't just leave a guy with a face so pale he looks like he's about to die with a person that can barely protect him."

I take that as an insult even though it's true. "Hey…!"

"Oh! Thank you so much, Luke!" Ion exclaimed happily as Tear realized his point. "You are so nice."

"N-No I'm not!" Luke protested. He turned around so that no one can see the blush on his face, though it was already too late. He turned around once more when it was gone. "Oh and don't use that weird arte again. You damn near passed out. We'll take care of the fighting."

Ion's face brightened. "You're going to protect me? Sir Luke, I'm so moved!"

I threw my palm towards my face with a mental groan. Ion…Don't get the wrong idea…

I lifted my face up to get a good look at Luke's face. There was a bright hue on Luke's cheeks. Again. Once more, he looked away from Ion to hide the little blush on his face. I resisted the urge to laugh at him. "T-That's not what I meant! You'll just get in the way! Don't get all worked up about it!" Luke turned back to Ion, this time without the hue. "And it's just 'Luke', got it?"

"Okay Luke," Ion replied happily.

"And you," Luke looked at my direction. "You can't even fight! You'll also get in the way. Try to be more useful and protect Ion like your suppose to do. Now let's go!"

"Easier said than done," I muttered. I looked ahead of me to see Luke already went ahead of us once more. This time, it's at a much slower pace, but we were still lagging behind.

"What are you guys doing?" he bellowed from that distance. "Hurry up!"

Tear and I sighed as we try to keep up with Luke's speed. Ion soon followed us, but he was keeping up to our pace instead of keeping up to Luke's. It seemed that Ion doesn't mind the pace we were at even though all of us were trying to catch up to Luke.

* * *

It wasn't until we walked a bit further that we ran into a monster. It looked like the shell of a snail but it was flying and had tentacles coming out of the hole from the bottom. And…there were two of them. Not too far away from the snail monsters, there was a wolf. Since I was near Luke, he was the first person I held onto. I pointed at the monster a bit afraid. Heck, I even let out a small high pitched whimper.

"M-M-" I stuttered as I yanked Luke's sleeve. Luke cursed a little bit, losing his footing.

"What?" he barked at me. Then followed my point and saw the monster.

"M-MONSTER!" I shrieked before running to pull Ion away from the monster that was in front of us leaving Luke and Tear to battle them. We quickly distance ourselves from the battle in case the wolf might decide to come after us instead of Luke or Tear.

Luke pulled out his sword to fight the monsters head on while Tear had already run past us to support Luke. They already go into battle formation: Luke in the front and Tear in the back. Luke quickly dispatched the first snail monster with a few slashes. It fell to the ground in pieces as the next one flew right up to Luke after the first one fell. The snail monster managed to slash Luke's arm before Tear finished singing her fonic hymn which stunned it for a while before Luke finished it off. The wolf had already joined the battle and attacked Luke before he swung his sword down on the snail monster. Luke fell back as both the snail and the wolf ganged up on him.

Tear ran to Luke's side and attacked the snail that was already weakened by her. Luke was fighting off the wolf with his arm. Fortunately for him, the wolf bit his right arm leaving his sword arm free. Luke cursed loudly before thrusting the sword into the wolf's head, killing it instantly.

I relaxed as Luke sheathed his sword. His arm was dripping with blood from the bite but Tear healed it with First Aid. Ion and I approached them when Tear gestured us to come over.

Luke frowned and looked at me. "You sure don't act like a Lieutenant Colonel."

I snorted. And he just noticed this now? "I lack battle experience! I'm a rookie that never wanted to be Lieutenant Colonel in the first place!"

"Then why are you one?"

"My case is _special_!"

Luke opened his mouth but then Tear gave him a look that says that he shouldn't go any further. Ion pointed to the path to our left. "We should move on in case more monsters show up."

"There's more?" I whimpered. This is so not like the game where it's just one group of monsters at a time. Since it's more like a fictional reality, the monsters shows up when they want to show up. I nearly wanted to crawl up a tree or hide in a bush and wait for them to finish their search but who knows what's lurking there!

"Enough of that attitude," Luke demanded. "Let's move on."

I stayed closer to the back of the group since I don't want to be the first to catch sight of a monster. Luckily for us, there wasn't much. Most of the monsters we ran into were by themselves, so they were taken down really quickly.

We saw another cheagle up ahead. This time, it was pink instead of yellow. And it looked smaller than the one we encountered before. Unlike the yellow one we encountered near the entrance of the Cheagle Woods, this one doesn't have a patch of white fur on its bottom.

Huh…so some cheagles have white bottoms while others don't. Interesting.

"So that's a cheagle?" he asked as the cheagle mewed at us.

"It looks like it's still a child." Ion stated.

I nodded. From the sound of it, that was the most likely conclusion.

"It's so cute~!" I commented. Tear started to approach the baby cheagle and I followed suit. It wasn't until we were both within a few feet of it that the young cheagle ran away. I groaned as Tear gave a disappointed look in the direction where the cheagle fled.

"Hey!" Luke shouted. "It ran away."

"It is a wild animal, after all." Ion mused.

Yes it was. I sighed. A very cute wild animal.

"This must be the cheagle's nesting area," Tear said, looking up the hill where the young cheagle had ran off to.

Ion walked a bit further and said, "I do hope we can find some proof they stole food from the village."

"Those stupid things probably left food all over the place," Luke said. He looked around to see if there was any food dropped on the ground. There wasn't any.

"Let's explore a little!" Ion said.

We wandered a little bit further that we found a gigantic tree with a river bed right beside it. The tree has a large hole at the front; the hole looked to be big enough for a person as tall as Jade to enter it. We walked a bit further to find a bunch of apples in front of the tree. Some of the apples were floating in the riverbed but a small few were lying right there in front of the tree.

So this might be the cheagle's nest.

Ion picked up an apple that was left at the entrance of the tree and looked at it. He showed each of us the apple. The apples had some mark on them that might indicate that the apples were grown in a certain area. "These apples have the mark of Engeve on them."

I nodded in agreement. There weren't any apples seen growing on trees along the way, so these apples must have been stolen.

"So these guys did do it!" Luke said.

"I think I hear something inside this tree." Tear stated. I stopped to listen and nodded once I heard something as well. From what I heard, it sounds like little mews echoing from inside the tree.

"Cheagles lives inside tree trunks," Ion explained as he pointed to the entrance of the tree. He started walking towards entrance.

"Eh? Fon Master!" I cried as I followed him inside of the tree. I ignore the pool of water that drenched a small portion of my leggings as I ran after Ion.

"Fon Master! That's way too dangerous!" Tear cried as well. She, too, followed Ion into the tree.

"Please let me through," Ion begged the herd of cheagles that was in front of us when Tear and I reached Ion. I looked down at them and held back another squeal. I heard Luke joining the three of us as Ion continued to try to persuade the cheagles to allow him to meet their leader. Instead, he received a lot of 'meiu's from them.

That might be a warning sound.

"Like the monster's going to understand you." Luke frowned since they were still 'meiu'ing at them.

"The Order's founder, Yulia Jue, made a pact with the cheagles and gained their aid…" Ion explained to Luke. He turned his attention back to the cheagles. None of them seems to want to move out of the way. "…Or so I've been told."

"…Are you of relation to Yulia Jue?" an old voice asked us. The cheagles that was in front of us backed away and made a path for an older cheagle carrying a ring to make its way to us. Unlike most of the cheagles mieuing at us who were on all fours, this cheagle was standing on two legs while it was carrying the ring with its two arms. The elder cheagle had purple fur with drooping ears. The eyes of the cheagle elder were covered by fur giving it an elderly look.

All of us were shocked when the cheagle spoke our language.

"Whoa! That monster talked!" Luke exclaimed.

"It is the power of the ring we were granted as part of our pact with Yulia," the older cheagle said. "Are you of relation to Yulia?"

Ion answered the older cheagle. "Yes. I am Ion. Fon Master of the Order of Lorelei. Am I correct in assuming you are the cheagle elder?"

The cheagle elder nodded. "Indeed I am."

Luke took a step closer to the elder. "Hey, monster-"

"It's a cheagle, Luke," I corrected him. He glared at me once more and I cast a glare of my own as we stared each other down.

"Whatever," Luke huffed; he broke off contact and waved a hand between us. He turned his attention back to the Cheagle elder. I crossed my arms and looked at the cheagle elder with a much softer expression than the one I gave to Luke. "You guys stole food from Engeve, right?"

"I see now, you are here to exterminate us…" the Cheagle Elder said.

"Humph, so you don't deny it."

Ion held his arm out so that Luke doesn't advance on the Cheagle elder any further. He gave a look to Luke to let him deal with the cheagles. He looked back at the Cheagle elder. "Cheagles are herbivores. Why do you need to steal human food?"

The Cheagle elder hesitated. "…To preserve the cheagle tribe."

"It doesn't look like you lack food. There's plenty of vegetation in this forest." Tear said as her brow furrowed in puzzlement.

The Cheagle elder exhaled. "One of our members caused a fire in the northern region. As a result, the ligers that lived there moved down here to this forest," he explained. "…In order to prey on us."

"Then, the reason you stole the food was so that your people wouldn't get eaten," Ion concluded. I nodded as I also came up with the same conclusion.

"Correct." The Cheagle elder nodded. "If they aren't sent food periodically, we cheagles are captured and eaten."

"That's horrible…"

Luke huffed. "And totally not our problem. If you are weak, then you're food. That's how it works."

"Luke!" I gasped. That was horrible to say even if it was to monsters. Doesn't he care about what happens to the cheagles that were a part of the symbol of the Order of Lorelei?

Oh wait, it's long haired Luke. Of course he doesn't care.

"Besides," he continued. "I would be mad too, if you torched my land."

"It may be true," Ion nodded, "But this is hardly a normal food chain."

Tear turned to the side to face Luke. "Luke, we've confirmed that the thieves are cheagles. What do you want to do now?"

"What else?" Luke asked. "We're gonna drag these guys down to Engeve and-"

"But if we do that, the ligers will likely attack Engeve next in search of food." Tear interrupted.

Luke snorted. "I don't care what happens to that stupid village."

"That's not acceptable," Ion cut in. "Food from Engeve is shipped throughout the entire world—not just the Malkuth Empire."

Luke's eyes widened. "Then what do we do?"

Ion looked at the three of us with a very serious look. "Let's negotiate with the ligers."

Tear looked at me who turned pale at Ion's suggestion and sighed. Of course she knew I don't have a lot of courage when it comes to dealing with _real_ creatures…unless they are cute. She looked at Ion. "With the monsters?"

Luke scratched his head. "Can those ligers things talk too?"

Ion shook his head. "We can't talk to them directly, but if we take one of the cheagles with us as a translator…"

The cheagle elder nodded. "Then, I shall lend this sorcerer's ring to the one who will be your interpreter." It turned its head over to the side and started to mumble something in its own language. At that time, a small cheagle, in blue fur with a white fur bottom, stepped shyly towards the elder. It had a shy look on its face as it stared at the four of us.

Luke frowned at the sight of it. "What the…?"

"This child is the one who caused the fire in the north," the cheagle elder explained. The young cheagle nodded sheepishly. "I want you to take him with you."

"This small cheagle?" Tear asked, surprised.

The cheagle elder nodded as it proceeded to put the sorcerer's ring onto the young cheagle. He lifted the ring with much difficulty since the ring must be heavy. He intended to slip the ring through the young cheagle's head, but the young cheagle's head was far too large for the ring to just slide on. The older and the younger cheagle's heads collided and both fell to the floor as the ring landed right in between the two cheagles. They quickly collected themselves and jumped back onto their feet. The cheagle elder tried a different approach and pointed to the ring that was left on the floor. He was muttering something to the other cheagle who nodded as he stepped over the ring so that he was in the middle of the ring. He pulled the ring up to his belly and gave a glance towards the elder who gave an approving nod towards the younger cheagle. Still clutching the ring around its body it turned over to us to give each of us a good look before returning his gaze to Luke who was bent down to get a closer look at our new companion.

Ion, Tear and I followed suit just before the cheagle introduced himself. "My name is Mieu. Pleased to meet you."

"…Something about this thing is really annoying." Luke said

"_Mieu…_I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Mieu apologized.

Luke shouted, "Argh! You're gonna drive me nuts! I should just roast you and eat you right now!" He ruffled his hair in distraught as Tear looked away and sighed.

"I don't think he's going to be edible…" I murmured. I picked up Mieu as everybody stood up straight and headed out of the tree. Our next goal is to negotiate with the ligers (in this case with the liger queen), who would be nesting at the edge of the forest. Since we don't know the path really well, Mieu agreed to be our guide.

Once we made our way out of the tree, Mieu hopped out of my arms and ran just ahead of the group. "Everyone! Watch this!"

He turned around and inhaled, soon after Mieu exhaled and a small line of fire came out of his mouth. It shocked the entire group.

"Whoa!" Luke shouted. "He breathed fire!"

Mieu's face beamed. "Neat, huh?"

"What was that?" Tear asked the young cheagle.

"I can breathe fire, so I'm useful for more than just interpreting!" Mieu chirped. "I'm going to work extra hard to make up for all the trouble I caused my friends." His ears drooped after that.

Ion nodded. "That's right; I'd forgotten that cheaggles were a fire-breathing species."

Mieu's face brightened once more as he gave Ion a nod. "Yes, we are! But mine is special!"

"Special?" Tear repeated as she cocked her head to the right.

"I'm still a child," the young cheagle explained. "So I can't actually breathe fire."

"And yet you manage to set an entire forest _on_ fire…" I mumbled with a sigh. Ion looked over his shoulder to give me a stern look. I bit my lower lip so that I wouldn't say anything else to hurt Mieu's feelings.

"But!" The cheagle continued.

Ion turned his attention back to Mieu. "But?"

"The Sorcerer's Ring! Thanks to that, I can breathe fire!"

So…Mieu somehow _stole_ the Sorcerer's Ring, ran all the way to the northern forest and set it on fire…? I liked the idea where Mieu _knew_ how to breathe fire _without_ the Sorcerer's Ring; the cheagle elder wouldn't be that careless to lose the Sorcerer's Ring that easily. Yeah, I would stick to the anime's idea. Mieu knowing how to breathe fire even at his age makes a crap load more sense than the one in the game.

"And no matter how much fire I breathe out, I never get tired!" Mieu beamed. He turned around to face another direction where there weren't any plants nearby and shot two consecutive flames. He can shoot out consecutive flames _and_ hold a flame. Neat. He was more useful than a certain snobby, red-haire-

Er…Actually. Mieu was more useful than _me_. Heck! I can't even fire a gun properly. Damn my uselessness.

"So the Sorcerer's Ring is good for more than just translation, huh?" Luke asked.

"It was originally made to amplify fonic artes. It's a type of capacity core." Ion explained.

"But a flame of that size isn't going to be of much use in battle…" Tear pointed out.

Mieu's ears drooped. "_Mieuuuu…_"

I knelt down to lightly rub the cheagle's head. "Don't worry, Mieu, you're not the only one that isn't of use in battle!"

Like me…

"Yeah, but come on. Breathing fire! That'll be fun!" Luke crossed his arms. "Hey, you! Thing!"

And just when I thought he wouldn't call Mieu that…I rubbed my forehead as Tear gave him a frown.

"Luke! That's horrible!"

Luke shrugged it off. "Oh, shut up! It's fine for this little freak!"

"How about I call you a prick?" I muttered under my breath.

"Listen up, Thing. When I give the order, you spit fire. Got it?" Luke instructed.

Mieu's ears drooped as he reluctantly agreed. "…_Mieuu~_…Yes, sir…"

Poor Mieu. Seriously.

* * *

We returned to the area where we faced the floating snails and the wolf. I just found out from Tear that they were called Linails. Mieu's Fire was more convenient than Luke thought it would be. Every time we encountered a monster, I had Mieu breathe fire on them to distract them (a small flame didn't do much harm to the monsters) so that we can make a quick getaway.

Actually…it was more like a chance to attack from the party.

"Man, isn't there another way to battle these monsters?" Luke whined when he had finished off a Linail. When battling the monsters that we had burned, the monsters were running wildly around the place to put the flame out. There was no room for a sneak attack since the monster would have seen us by the time the small flame was extinguished. He sheathed his sword as Ion, Mieu and I joined him and Tear.

"Luke…This would be the best way. Anh and Ion would be able to run to safety while we go face the monsters." Tear pointed out. "Besides, what would happen to Fon Master Ion if a rogue monster were to find them?"

"That would be Anh's problem then." Luke said as he walked past us towards the next area.

"Should I ask Mieu to burn you instead?" I asked Luke in a hush tone. Luke tsked before looking at a series of vines hanging from a branch. It was clearly in the way since there was another path right behind the vines but it was too thick for anybody to go through it. Clearly, Luke wanted to burn that down.

"Mieu," I called the young cheagle. Mieu looked up at me as I walked over to him and picked him up. I walked past Luke and held Mieu out to burn the vines. "Fire, please."

Mieu breathed fire as I instructed, the vines were set in flames and fell to the ground as ashes. The branches were unharmed; however, it seemed that the vines broke off before it reached the branches itself. Although a tree was slightly scorched by the burnt vines, just slightly so it would be fine.

"Alright," I said happily as I turned around to face the entire group. There was a rumbling sound that caught our attention. It felt like something big was moving, and I watched as everybody's expressions paled while I stood there in confusion. I cocked my head to the side. "Did…something happened…?"

All three of them pointed behind me to show why they paled. I turned around to see a tree moving and I, too, paled. It looked just like a tree from behind since it had brown bark covered in green moss. Although, this tree had two rather large bark-like arms and legs with yellow gleaming eyes from a hollow. The tree started to walk towards us as I realized that I didn't just hit any kind of tree with Mieu's fire.

What I accidently scorched was actually a monster.

"EYAAAHHH!"

"HOW CAN YOU SCREAM THAT LOUD?"

* * *

**I'll just leave it at that. Oh and that was Luke that shouted last. XD**

**Please leave a review, it makes my day and it makes the chapters come faster to you.  
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**See you all in the next chapter~!**


	5. Chapter 4: Battle: Liger Queen

**Chapter 4! Battle: Liger Queen!**

**About the Tree Golem, let's see what happened after it!**

**Oh and I might want to say this now: I used the Canadian way of spelling. So if you're more familiar with US or something like that, sorry.  
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**Also, this was edited and betaed by my lovely and new beta: Mieu. Thank god for editors/betas… Even though a few of them are oni…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToA.**

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**Battle: Liger Queen**

The four of us stood and panted once we crossed a river via a tree bridge. Luke had his sword stuck in the ground as he used it for support. Across from him was Tear, who was bending over with both of her hands on her thighs. I was on my knees with Mieu in my arms and with my head thrown back. Ion was standing near me with one hand on his thigh with the other holding his staff. All of us, with the exception of Mieu, were tired from our who-knows-how-long sprint.

When we ran into that gigantic tree monster, we all ran as fast as we could with me in tow. It was mainly because I had Mieu in my arms (and that I was closest person to the monster when we had encountered it) and I was trying to block the path by burning some dead trees along the way. When we reached a dead end, Luke yanked Mieu out of my hands to burn the rotting roots of a tree across the river. The tree fell and we hastily crossed the river.

On a positive side, that tree monster wasn't able to cross the river and so it let us go. On the negative side, there was another one on this side of the river. Luke distracted it by diverting its attention towards him and once its back was on us, he ordered Mieu to breathe fire. Once it was too busy trying to douse the flame out, we ran for our lives across another river this time with Luke in tow.

Never had I ran so much in my life.

Scratch that. I ran for much longer…In Daath.

Luke was the first to recover, he grunted as he wiped the sweat off of his chin. "Dammit. That monster was ridiculous!"

"You said it." I agreed between my panting.

I wanna go home now.

"If you hadn't set that creature on fire, we wouldn't have been chased!" Luke accused, pointing a finger at me. Tear stood in between us.

"She was just trying to help out. You wanted to go beyond the vines so she just did that to help you." Tear countered.

"Oh, so it's _my_ fault?" Luke snapped at Tear.

I watched the two of them helplessly, unable to say anything myself. If I were to interrupt in the heat of the argument, it might cause even more problems than it had before.

Ion straightened his posture before standing on between the two of them. "Please stop. Now is not the time to argue." He pointed towards a hole that leads deeper into the woods. "We found the Liger Queen's liar. So let's think of it as a good sign that we were chased."

Ion was the first to make his way towards the lair. Luke glared at me before he followed Ion's suit. Tear and I soon followed after the two of them, although I was pretty upset over the last incident.

"After we leave. Just wait til after. We. Leave." I told to myself.

"'After we leave'?" Tear repeated.

"Best. Part. Of. My. Day." I answered her through gritted teeth. Tear gave me a confused look and I just gave her a smile. "Think nothing of it."

I quickened my pace so that I was walking next to Ion. I had a large grin on my face just thinking about the end results of this ordeal.

On our way to the den itself, I just noticed that once you experience the game in real life, there were some small aspects missing. For example, the memory circle you usually have just somewhere in the game is gone when we neared the entrance of the liger queen's den. I can assume that there wasn't going to be any memory circles in any inns or dungeons from now on. If my hunch is correct…if the memory circle is gone, then that means the wing bottles are also gone.

Wait…

We have to trek back to the entrance of each dungeon the _long_ way? Oh, for Christ's sake! This blows!

I let out a rather loud groan that caught Ion's attention. "Is something wrong?"

"Eh?" I looked up to face Ion. "A-Ah, nothing really. I was just wondering if a certain two is going to catch up to us."

"You mean Jade and Anise?" Ion asked. He gave me a smile before looking at the path in front of him. "I'm sure they would find us here. After all, you did scream really loudly back there. I wouldn't be surprised if they heard you at that moment."

"I wouldn't be either…" I agreed nervously. I sighed as my shoulders sagged a bit.

It would be better if they never heard it at all…

We entered the den where the liger queen was laying on a large nest of dead grass with three purple eggs with greens spots on them. The liger queen had brown fur around her neck, tail, and paws including her forepaws. The majority of her belly fur was a beige colour; her entire body was covered in brown fur with claw-like slashes of beige fur running vertically across her body. She appeared to have a large pair of green-blue ears. The queen was resting peacefully until she noticed our presence. She immediately stood up and growled a warning at us.

Well…I think it was a warning. All of these monsters go 'growl' or 'screech' as if we, humans, can understand their damned way of speaking…Speak human language so that we all know what you're talking about, damn monsters! Why was it so one-sided? I mean, monsters were able to understand us. The cheagles were proof of that. Monsters were able to understand monsters, and yet, humans were the only ones that were left out of this cycle.

"That must be the queen." Tear noted as she approached us in a threatening way. The queen's silver eyes glowed with malice as she continued to growl at us. She made no move in moving towards us, just warning us about something or something to that effect.

"The queen?" Luke asked.

"Ligers live in packs formed around a giant female," Tear explained as she tightened her grip around her weapon in case there was no way in backing out.

Ion picked up Mieu. "Mieu, please go talk with the liger queen."

Mieu nodded at Ion's instructions. "Yes, sir!" He hopped off of his arms as he approached the queen cautiously. He wasn't too close to the queen, he kept his distance in case she decide to suddenly attack us. "Mieu mieu mieu mieu mieu mieu mieu mieu. Mieuuu mieu…!"

The queen answered Mieu's call with a loud roar that caused the young cheagle to squeal and flee behind Ion. He wasn't the only one hiding behind Ion; I was too. I was quaking in fear just like Mieu; I had one hand on Ion's shoulder as I used him as my shield though it should be the other way around. The queen was HUGE! She's about half the height of the trees around her when standing. Oh god, the claws and fangs were also huge. It was more than enough to cut down an entire town like Engeve. I don't even know how three people managed to defeat something with her stature.

"Hey, runt," Luke snapped at Mieu, who cowered at Luke as well. "What did she say?"

"She says her eggs are just about to hatch so go away." Mieu told Luke what he heard from the queen. Both Tear's and Ion's eyes widened in horror as they both came to the same conclusion. "Her Highness is really mad that I accidently burned their home."

"Eggs?" Luke repeated in shock. "Ligers lay eggs?"

"I was born from an egg, too." Mieu pointed out. "A lot of monsters are born from eggs."

Tear faced the liger queen. "This is bad. Ligers are more violent when they're guarding their eggs."

"So what, do we come back later?" Luke asked, nervously.

Ion shook his head at Luke's suggestion. "But if the liger eggs hatch, the young will likely swarm the village in search of food."

"And they'll attack the people for sure." I cringed at the thought of people being eaten. Flames bursting out of homes as the villagers tried to exterminate the baby ligers, little ligers, about the size of huge cats, pouncing on defenceless villagers, blood spewing out of their necks or from whatever raw wounds the villagers receiving, the sounds of dead people shrills, the wails of young children and women as the sound of raw flesh being ripped out from the dead carcasses…

I turned around and covered my mouth to prevent myself from throwing up as I felt bile rise up my throat. Ugh, horror movies were really bad references when it comes to a discrete image but the images in my mind were basically a replay _from_ horror movies. And even those images made me feel sick.

Luke looked between Tear and Ion in confusion. "Huh?"

"Liger young like human flesh, so people hunt down any near cities before they can reproduce." Tear explained to Luke. Now it was Luke's turn to have his eyes widen in horror.

At least _he_ wasn't thinking of bloody images in his head.

Ion knelt down to Mieu as he patted Mieu's head. "Could you ask them to leave this land?"

Mieu nodded to Ion once before relaying the message to the liger queen. Once again, he received a loud roar from her but this time, it echoed through the trees causing loose branches to fall randomly to the ground. The branches fell to the ground with a loud _thud;_ dirt from the ground flew up into the air causing a small cloud of dust. Tear pulled Ion into a protective embrace; she intended to use herself as a shield for Ion. I covered my head with one arm and covered my eyes with the other as the branches fell near us as well. One of the branches fell just above Mieu, which was quickly sliced in half by Luke as the little cheagle covered his head with his small arms. A small piece of wood fell onto Mieu's forehead causing him to look up to see that Luke had just saved his life. He quickly turned around to face Luke who was standing between Mieu and the Liger queen.

"Th-thank you!" the young cheagle chirped.

Luke huffed as he looked away from Mieu. "Don't get me wrong. I wasn't protecting you, I was protecting Ion."

I raised a brow in confusion when Luke said that. Both Tear and I exchanged glances with each other as we looked at Luke before looking at Ion then back at Luke. If someone were to measure up the distance between Ion and Mieu, they would notice that the distance between them was not close at all. Ion was right next to us while Mieu was a good five feet away from the three of us, the newly sliced up tree branches weren't even remotely close to Ion either. Tear sighed as she gave Luke a slight smile while shaking her head behind Luke's back; I ended up faking a cough quietly to myself.

The liger queen roared once more and Mieu cried out before hiding himself behind Ion. "What is it, Mieu?" Ion asked as he picked up the cheagle. Mieu's ears drooped as he relayed the queen's message to Ion.

"She says she's going to kill us and feed us to her children…"

"So negotiations are over, huh?" Luke asked as he readied his weapon. Tear ran up to join Luke in battle, though she was a few feet away from him. She readied her weapon while I grabbed Ion and pulled him away so that we were a good distance away from the fight. I whipped my bag over my head, dropped it to the ground as I opened it to pull out my rifle. Once it was out of the bag, I quickly loaded it with a bullet from my pocket and grunted at the weight of it as I hoisted it against my shoulder. I closed my left eye and looked through the scope with my right eye.

The battle had already started the moment I looked through my scope. I would have joined the battle since I was at a pretty good distance away from the queen, but knowing my luck, I might accidentally hit Luke or Tear. For now I could only wait for an opening as the battle continues. The liger queen had intended to finish Luke off with one slash, but since he changed weapons from a wooden sword to a cutlass, he deflected the attack. However, due to the force of the attack, he was thrown back against a tree. He hit the tree with a grunt and the liger queen looked like she wasn't about to give him time to recover. She charged right at him the moment he fell down to the ground. Luke had seen the attack coming; however, he was too slow to react. The liger queen was already in front of him with her claws up in the air for a final slash.

From the corner of my eye, through the scope, I saw Tear pulled out her sets of daggers, which were held in a pouch that was strapped onto her right thigh. She quickly threw them at the liger queen's paw, which successfully diverted the queen's attention, but it didn't even graze her. The daggers bounced off of her thick fur like rubber bullets (not fired from a gun nor whipped at a person) hitting human skin. The liger queen paused a second to look at the damage, Luke used this opportunity to run off to the side. She roared furiously as her target had scampered off like a mouse.

I tore my eyes off of the scope to get a full view of the battle. I don't think normal attacks were hurting her. Even so…She seemed really pissed. Tear was distracting the liger queen with her daggers while Luke took the opportunity to run around and slash at the liger queen's hind legs. From where I was standing, I wasn't able to tell if Luke injured her or not, but she appeared even more pissed than she was before. Since no one was near her at the moment, I decided it might be a good opportunity to shot her from where I was.

I looked back into my scope and hastily pulled the trigger intending to hit the liger queen on the forehead but she moved before the bullet hit her. She struck at Luke one more time as the bullet flew past her head and at a tree. The bullet burst causing several loose branches to fall…directly above Luke. Luke yelped as he avoided the falling branches, and I swore I heard a loud cracking sound. It must be the branches.

Yeah…must be the branches.

"WATCH WHAT YOU ARE DOING!" Luke roared at me from where he was. He was waving his blade in a very threatening manner but I see it more as a sign of frustration.

"IT'S NOT LIKE I DID THAT ON PURPOSE!" I shouted back at him as I ejected the empty shell from my rifle, the bullet shell popped out of the rifle and hit the ground. I tsked at the empty shell; that was what I call littering. I would pick it up the moment it fell, but it would be better if I do that after the battle. I was just about to load another bullet when something purple and sizzling flew past me, singeing a small portion of my hair. I squeaked as I touched the spot that was partially singed and stared at the liger queen with horror. From her mouth was a purple light that looked like it contained a series of lightning bolts in them.

Aw crap. Can she shoot at long distances, too…?

My suspicions was confirmed when she fired at me again. I cried out as I dropped my weapon and held my hands out in front of my face. It wasn't the smart thing to do, but it was the first thing that came into my mind. The next thing I knew, something heavy tackled me to the ground and the lightning bolt flew past me, above me. It hit something, which caused that something to fall. I didn't know what fell since I never bothered looking up.

Yep. I was that scared.

What I do know was that someone's arm was wrapped around my waist.

An…arm…?

"My, having fun there?" a familiar deep voice asked me, sarcastically. I dared myself to have a look at my saviour and when I did, I cringed.

"J-Jade?"

Jade released his hold on me and gave me a smirk as he stood up. "It must be nice to be young." He pushed up his glasses as the dim light partially reflected on his glasses giving it a gleam.

A sinister gleam…The look, the smirk, the posture, the entire being of Jade was sinister!

"D-Do you really have the time to make sarcastic remarks at a time like this?" I asked him, nearly wanting to scream and hide behind him for protection. "Do something!"

"Of course I will." Jade responded as he picked up my rifle and lightly threw it over to me. I barely caught it when he did. "Only if you do your share of work, with my guidance, of course."

I really hated his bargains.

I sighed as I used my rifle to help me get off of the ground. I don't have much of a choice. I, reluctantly, followed Jade, who was making his merry way to Tear. Luke was running up to Tear, regrouping as the two of them tried to form a new strategy. Luke was panting heavily from the fight while Tear healed his wounds from the fallen branches and small scrapes.

"Hey! What the hell? It's not dying!" Luke shouted, loudly.

"This isn't good." Tear muttered as the queen neared them. "Our attacks aren't hurting it at all."

Luke turned to face Tear angrily, his tiredness all forgotten. "So…So, do something!"

That was Jade's cue right there. He gave me a smile before walking up to them, making his presence known to the two of them. "Allow me."

Tear readied her weapon at Jade expecting him to be an ambush, but she recognized him as the soldier from yesterday. "You're…"

"Leave the inquiry for later." Jade ordered as he readied a powerful fonic arte. There was a blue fonic glyph forming underneath him so I assumed it would be a water-based attack. "I'll use fonic artes to take care of this. You make sure I have time to cast."

Luke shot a sneer at Jade. "You can't order me-"

"Let's leave this to him." Tear interrupted Luke. "We'll buy time by taking on the liger queen. Don't let her attacks hit him."

Luke grunted as he turned around to face the queen. "I know! I know!"

He darted towards the liger queen for round two. Around that time, Jade had finish casting his spell.

"Blessed drops!"

A large drop of water appeared above the liger queen and dropped right on top of her, drenching her from top to bottom. Luke was soaked, too, but he didn't pay mind to it. The drop of water caused a large ripple of water to form below the liger queen before a series of water droplets flew up into the air and bursting all around her. Luke used this opportunity to slash her one more time. This time, it was more effective with wet fur than it was it dry. The gash on her paw oozed with deep red blood that looked very similar to human blood. I was at awe from the combination of Jade's and Luke's attack. It wasn't until I receive a light smack to my forehead that I snapped back to reality.

"Pay attention to the battle." Jade ordered me as I rubbed my forehead while giving him a scowl. "Aim 45 degrees to the right and fire."

"Say what?" I asked him. Jade gave me a look that said he refuse to repeat the order to me, he resumed to chanting another spell. Tear, on the side, began chanting her own spell. I sighed as I did as Jade instructed and pulled the trigger like he told me to. To my amazement, the bullet actually hit the liger queen. Even if it did hit her tail, it was just as effective as a slash from Luke. The bullet acted very similar to Jade's Energy Blast so it burst catching her off guard as both Tear and Jade finished casting their spells.

"Photon!"

"..._Toue rei zue Kuroa ryuo toue zue…_"

A small ball of light formed right in front of the liger queen doing a series of damage to her, at the same time, a purple fonic glyph appeared underneath her and, like Blessed Drops; bubbles appeared and damaged the liger queen. The liger queen roared as us and, with Luke forgotten, charged at us intending to finish Jade, Tear and I in one sweep. Tear stood between her and us and held out her hand causing a fonic glyph acting like a barrier. The liger queen attacked the barrier with all her might, trying to destroy it, while Jade readies another spell, this time, with a very different coloured fonic glyph below us. Tear was on the defensive while the liger queen continued attacking the barrier. The barrier was then shattered and Luke intercepted by driving her attention towards him. This continued for some time until Jade finished his spell.

"O roar of the earth, bring forth the fangs of the mighty dragon." Jade chanted. "Ground Dasher!"

That was Jade's cue to Luke to flee before he gets caught in the attack. Luke fled the moment the ground below the liger queen cracked opened before a series of rocks impaled the liger queen from below. Rocks flew all over the place before they all receded back into the ground. The liger queen struggled to get up but, finally, she was completely still.

"Well," Jade pushed his glasses up as the liger queen's body fell limp to the ground. She landed with a loud thump and blood poured from her various wounds throughout her body. "That was pitiful."

Luke gaped at Jade; Tear was staring at Jade in amazement. Luke pointed a finger at Jade as he was staring at Tear. "W-Whoa. D-Did you see that?"

Tear nodded. "He's definitely not an ordinary fonist."

Jade smirked since the battle posed no threat to him. I don't even think he used a lot of his power either. I sighed.

This guy takes everything lightly. Unless it comes to _that_ certain topic…

Luke sheathed his sword just before he fell to the ground in relief that the fight was over. Tear, on the other hand, was completely fine; she was tired, but she rather not show how tired she was at the moment. She looked at Jade who was walking off. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder before breaking it.

"Anise. Anh. Could I speak to the both of you for a moment?" Jade asked the raven haired girl, who was walking towards him, and I, who was putting away my rifle. I reluctantly nodded before walking towards him as well once I lifted the bag over my shoulder. Once the both of us were in front of him, he cast another glance towards Tear, who was still eyeing at us. He returned his attention back to us since he knew we were at a good distance away from her.

"Anh, is that woman a Seventh Fonist?" Jade asked me in a hush tone. I nodded.

"She's a Seventh Fonist." I confirmed recalling the situation where she healed Luke during the battle with the Linails and wolf.

Jade nodded. He wanted to make sure since she did cast some unusual spells like Nightmare during the battle. "And how about Luke?"

"Not that I'm aware of." I answered as I eyed Luke past Jade. He was still on the ground, staring at something in front of him. "He doesn't even know anything about casting. Brute force is his thing."

"And they crossed the Rotelro Bridge when we first encountered them." Jade concluded. He pushed his glasses up. "Anise, I want you to bring the Tartarus to the entrance of the Forest. At the same time, I want to issue an order to a handful of my men on it. Tell them to meet us at the entrance of the forest and make it quick."

Anise was nodding at his instructions as I watched Tear who was still watching us suspiciously. "Okay…understood. In exchange, you have to keep a good eye on Ion!" Anise chirped happily before running off to fetch the Tartarus. Jade nodded when Anise left.

"Our job now is to make sure they stay in sight." Jade told me before walking towards Tear and Luke.

"Yessir," I mumbled before following suit. I stood next to Luke. He was still staring at the thing in front of him. With my brow furrowed, I followed Luke's gaze towards the nest of eggs of the liger queen's. The eggs were cracked and greyish ooze seeped out of them. In between the three eggs was a fallen branch. I gasped as I realized that it was the cracking sound from the eggs that I heard a while back.

Oops…

There was blood, most likely from the fetus, coming out of the egg cracks as well. Bits of eggshells were scattered all around the nest as something that looked like a fetus laid there on the ground from a destroyed egg. I cringed at the sight of it. No wonder the game omitted the sight of the destroyed eggs and just showed Luke sitting there staring at the egg. The anime wasn't any different; they just omitted some stuff so that it doesn't appear that gory. The appearance of it was just nasty and the smell of iron from the blood was heavy in the air. Even though I had smelt blood before, it didn't stop the fact that my stomach was churning from the scent.

Luke stared at the eggs in disgust. "…This left a bad taste in my mouth."

Tear did not bother looking at the eggs, but she was just as disgusted as Luke. Her expression just didn't show it. She closed her eyes when she said, "You're quite kind. Or perhaps just soft."

"And you're cold!" Luke snapped at Tear. Tear shook it off as if it was nothing.

"Oh my. Lover's quarrel?" Jade joked. He heard the entire conversation and he seemed to enjoy every bit of it. His face said it all: a simple smile of amusement.

"Shut up!" Luke barked at Jade.

"Colonel Curtiss…We don't have that sort of relationship." Tear protested around the same time Luke said 'Shut up'.

Jade was waving his hand up and down in amusement. He held a smile on his face when the two of them immediately denied it. "I'm joking. And please, call me Jade. I'm not accustomed to being called by my family name."

Ion approached Jade when the tension wasn't that high. "Jade, I'm sorry for running off and doing this."

"I am, too." I apologized to Jade when he gave both Ion and I a scolding look. The both of us were looking sheepishly at the ground waiting for Jade to say something.

"It's unlike the both of you to do this when you both know it's wrong." From the corner of my eye, I saw Luke giving us a pity stare.

Ion lifted his head to face Jade. "Together with Yulia, the cheagles are the foundation of the Order of Lorelei. I felt I had to take responsibility for any trouble they had caused." Ion stated his reasons.

Jade narrowed his gaze at Ion. "And that's why you used your power? Didn't the doctor tell you not to?"

"Th-that's not his fault!" I said, lifting my head. I held a hand in front of Ion and took one step closer to Jade as if I was trying to protect him from Jade. "It was my fault for being unable to protect him. He was only protecting me from the wolves!"

"Regardless of whose fault it is, he still used his powers." Jade pointed out.

"But-!"

"Anh." Jade commanded in a stern voice even though he said no command to me. His crimson eyes did all the saying. He didn't want me to interfere any further than I already should.

"Yes sir." I mumbled as I lowered my gaze to the ground. My arms fell to its side as I took one step back.

"I'm sorry, Jade." Ion repeated. Jade turned his attention to Ion.

"And you both have involved citizens as well." He continued.

"Sorry…" The both of us repeated once more.

Luke tsked before he said his thoughts. "Hey, old man, they're apologizing, right? Give them a break."

Jade's gaze turned to Luke. Actually, everybody's gaze went to Luke. Jade, Tear and I all have surprised looks on our faces since Luke defended us from more scolding. Ion's face beamed when Luke complained in our place.

"Oh. I expected you to complain about being dragged into this. I'm a bit surprised." Jade said as he slightly tilted his head to one side. His expression was surprised but amused at the same time. He coughed before changing the subject. "Well, we don't have much time, anyway. I'll stop the lecture at that."

"The letter arrived, didn't it?" Ion asked. I said a mental 'yesss' in my head.

"Yes," Jade nodded. "Now, let's go ahead and get out of this forest."

"Nooo! We have to report to the elder!" Mieu spoke up as he ran up Luke's arm and jumped onto his head. It wasn't enough for the cheagle to say it in front of Jade's face, but at that height, at least he was known to them. He was waving his arms up and down when he got on Luke's head. Luke, on the other hand, didn't take it too well.

"A cheagle speaking a human language?" Jade mused at the thought of more monsters speaking human tongue. Luke yelled furiously before grabbing Mieu from his head and throwing the young cheagle to the ground. He was grinding Mieu's face to the ground with his foot. I winced at the treatment Mieu was receiving.

I felt sorry for Mieu…

"It's the power of the Sorcerer's Ring," Ion explained when Luke kicked Mieu elsewhere. The cheagle ran right back to the group but this time, he ran to me for safety. I picked the cheagle up and took a few steps closer to Jade so that Luke cannot do more damage to poor Mieu's head. Ion looked at Jade, his eyes pleading. "Jade, could we stop by the cheagles' home?"

"All right." Jade answered without skipping a beat. He pushed his falling glasses up. "But please don't forget that we haven't much time."

Ion nodded happily at Jade before turning back to Luke. "Luke, thank you for your help. Please join me for just a little longer."

Luke huffed before crossing his arms. "Well, I've come this far. Might as well."

* * *

We returned to the cheagles home as Mieu explained the entire battle and trip to the elder…In detail too…I think… Mieu had returned the Ring to the elder so he told the story in his own language. So I was assuming that the young cheagle had explained the entire thing in detail because it was quite a long set of 'mieu's. Jade was nodding his head in amusement seeing as it was nothing but 'mieu's coming out of their mouth. Tear was cooing on how cute the cheagles are underneath her breath. It was like heaven to her, I couldn't help but giggle. She sure loves cute things. A series of events happened soon after. The cheagle elder had decided to banish Mieu from the tribe for burning down the liger's home as punishment for his crime.

Though Ion protested that it was too severe for a child like Mieu, the cheagle elder quickly added that it would only be temporary exile. Thus the cheagle elder came to another decision.

"WHAAAT?"

The entire forest shook when Luke screamed as loud as my previous scream. He marched out of the cheagles' home fuming with rage with Mieu (followed by us) right behind him. Mieu was hopping happily behind his new master, Luke. Mieu caught up to Luke only to be thrown into a nearby river because he was that upset by the decision of the cheagle elder. Mieu cried out saying that he can't swim (despite the fact that the water wasn't that deep) and Tear ran into the water to rescue the poor cheagle. I sighed as I watch the poor treatment Mieu was receiving and will continuously receive later on.

Luke…That's called animal abuse…

"How did I get involved in this?" Luke asked, indignantly, when Mieu was rescued by Tear. Tear glared at Luke.

"You saved his life." Tear reminded Luke. Luke ruffled his hair in frustration when she said that.

"I was only saving Ion!" he protested.

Tear and I gave him a very unconvinced look since we knew that was a fat lie. Luke completely snapped and pointed a finger at us.

"I'm telling the truth!"

"Sure. Suuure." I said sarcastically as we continued our way. Jade and Ion just didn't say anything as they continued along with Tear and I. Luke was the only one left behind; he was still frustrated that no one believed him.

"I DID IT FOR ION!"

* * *

After a hassle of arguments, we just agreed to Luke's protest. He was fuming and complaining at the back of the group so much that we just went with it so that he calmed down. As we neared the entrance of the forest, Anise ran up to us to greet us…along with some Malkuth soldiers who were right behind her.

"Welcome back~!" Anise chirped as several soldiers surrounded Luke and Tear. Luke had his hand on his sword while Tear held out her weapon. Both ready to fight when necessary but the soldiers kept their distance so neither of them could attack without being ambushed.

"Greetings, Anise. What's the status of the Tartarus?" Jade asked as he casually pushed his glasses up. Anise pointed to the exit of the forest.

"It's in front of the forest, just like you asked." She responded happily. "You said to hurry, so we came as fast as we could~!"

Luke grunted, he pulled out his sword a small bit but I forced him to sheath it when I pulled out my mini-gun. Luke face twisted in disgust as he sheathed his blade, slowly.

"What's going on?" Luke demanded when he removed his hands away from his weapon. His hands fell to the side and Tear had to lower her weapon when the Malkuth soldiers unsheathed their swords.

I gave a sweet smile to Luke. "No hard feelings, Luke. Colonel's orders, that's all."

"Restrain those two." Jade ordered. "They're the ones who have been emitting the Seventh Fonons."

Two of the Malkuth soldiers shoved Luke and Tear to form a line. Another two pulled their wrists in front of them as they placed handcuffs on Luke and Tear once their weapons was taken away. Ion proceeded to help them but Jade held him back.

"Jade! Don't do anything to hurt them!" Ion begged Jade. Jade only gave Ion a shrug indicating that they might have to go rough…if those two decided to be rough.

"Don't worry." He assured Ion as Anise took over his role of holding Ion back. "We won't kill them…Assuming they don't resist." He turned his attention to Luke and Tear. Like me, he gave them a really sweet smile, but his seems more deadly than mine. One arm movement and the order was issued. "Be good, kids. Take them away!"

"Wait!" Luke demanded when they yanked him towards the Tartarus. He was struggling in their grip but it was futile against three trained soldiers. "What's going on?"

"Resistance is futile." Jade answered with a crooked smile. He looked at me and nudged his head to the entrance. "Anh, go escort them to their rooms. Oh and be sure that they do not do anything drastic."

"Yes sir!" I responded with a salute. I happily took the lead as the other Malkuth soldiers flanked Luke and Tear's side.

Best part of my day: Luke's arrest. I couldn't be more than happy to take out any order from Jade right now.

Though I might regret it later…

* * *

**I'll stop it at here! The arrest happens and whoop-dee-do! We're at the Tartarus in the next chapter!**

**I used the Romanized version for Tear's fonic hymn. If you don't like it now, get use to it. It's not harmful, but I don't like the English translation of it. And I also made a small reference to an anime that I don't think most of you would know. It's called Utawarerumono. If you're ever interested what reference I made, check out the anime. It can be found in the first couple chapters. I'll even give you a hint: It has to do with wet fur.**

**Now then…there's a niiice little button down there. Click on it and pretty stuff will happen!**

**See you all in the next chapter~!**


	6. Chapter 5: Babysitting

**Luke's gets arrested. And Anh's day is going to get much worse than it already is. Title kind of says everything…ish…**

**There was this certain scene that made me want to type up. I typed it, changed it, and typed it again. …And because of that damned scene, I ended up with a writer's block **_**of**_** that scene for a few days. And then I went: 'Screw it!' and chucked it out of the window. It's gone now, though it probably doesn't affect anything at this moment.**

**I would thank my lovely beta, Mieu. Even though the plot might sound Sueish or is a piece of crap, she still edited it…Without the shouting.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToA of any sorts. I own myself (aka Anh) since it is me I threw into the game. XD**

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* * *

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**Chapter 5: Babysitting**

"How are the two of them fairing?" Jade asked me as we left the bridge to meet Luke, Tear, Ion and Anise in a different room. He handed me a large map of Auldrant along with a set of keys for me to carry just before we had left the room. I stood there at the door, receiving the items while I held the door opened with my back allowing Jade to walk through before following him with the keys in my pocket and the map in my arms.

"They are pissed. Well…rather Luke is." I answered honestly. I had checked on Luke and Tear earlier before returning to the bridge to get Jade. Tear had remained calmed and composed while Luke was spouting as much nonsense as he could think of. Most of them were being shot at Jade, the Cheagle Woods, Mieu, and Tear. Mieu was being…Mieu, innocent, child-like, completely oblivious, and unable to do anything until something happened or someone ordered him to do something. I was pretty surprised that Luke hadn't ordered Mieu to burn the handcuffs so that they could break it once the metal was weak enough and flee. As if they could run on the Tartarus without being caught. Back to Mieu…Mieu was currently in the custody of Ion. At least Ion was trustworthy; he wouldn't dare allow Mieu to do such a rash thing.

"A Malkuth soldier suddenly arrests them not too long after they have been rescued by the very same man. Yes, Jade, they are totally going to be giddy and cheerful when you arrest them. Totally." I rolled my eyes when I said that last sentence.

"Someone has rubbed off on you," Jade noted. I made a face with my cheeks all puffed out.

"Who said _you_ rubbed off on me?" I huffed as I picked up the pace. I heard Jade chuckle behind me before catching up with me. On the way, something came into mind. "You are planning to use them for something, aren't you?"

I looked over my shoulder to look at Jade. He wasn't behind me so I had to search around me to find him. Apparently he decided to change sides; he was walking on my right and recently, he switched to walking on my left. I gave him a glare once I located him; he ignored it since I pose no threat to him.

"It depends if he is willing to cooperate." Jade replied simply. He pushed his glasses up so that it gleamed in the light. "He is, after all, deemed as a rather suspicious character from the start."

I stopped in my tracks. Luke was a suspicious character. There were a number of things that many people could point out that made Luke suspicious, but wasn't there a good number that deemed _me_ suspicious. I was a girl who just wanted to keep a low profile that she had just appeared into a game. I would be more suspicious than Luke and yet…Thanks to Jade, there was no form of interrogation. Most of the soldiers, including Ion and Anise, never questioned Jade why he did that. Would I be considered lucky or damned?

I hoped it was the latter.

"Wouldn't I be deemed as suspicious too?" I blurted out. I bit my lower lip when the words came out. It was too late to take them back now. Jade, too, stopped to ponder about it. I looked at him with a serious look. He never bothered turning around to look at me nor was he giving me an answer. I sighed, "I'm just a random girl you met in Daath without any money, in weird clothing, and most of all, knew who you were from the beginning. Why didn't you arrest me along with Luke and Tear?"

This time, he really did turn around to face me, though his expression was unreadable. We held eye contact for a really long time before he turned around and continued on his way. I exhaled before catching up with him. "Well, I was wondering the same thing as well." I heard him said.

I narrowed my eyes when he said that.

"…That…totally helped…"

"You're welcome."

* * *

We reached the door that led to the room where Luke and Tear were being held. Fon Master Ion, Anise and Mieu were also in the room due to Ion's request. Also present in the room was two guards either there to protect the Fon Master or to keep an eye on the 'guests'. We, rather _I_, was about to open the door until Luke's voice suddenly spoke up from within the room. My hand was already on the handle and Jade grabbed my wrist to stop me from opening the door. I blinked in confusion before releasing my grip on the door as we listen to the conversation being held.

"_Dammit, Jade! That bastard! I wouldn't have bothered with the Cheagle Woods if I knew about this!"_ Luke's voice shouted. There was a feminine sigh that responded to his shout. Probably Tear's voice since Anise wouldn't have a reason to sigh.

"From what he was saying, it sounds like they've had their eyes on us the whole time. We would've been captured one way or the other."

"My, she is quite insightful." Jade commented, quietly. I rolled my eyes.

Why _were_ we eavesdropping in the first place? We were _still_ standing in the doorway. Please, tell me that this wasn't a hobby of Jade's…

"_But I didn't do anything!"_ Luke protested. _"They don't have any right to treat me like this!"_

"…He _is_ in enemy territory…" I muttered.

"Indeed." Jade said, agreeing with me. "Not to mention that he stole an apple from Engeve."

My face twisted to a 'are you serious' look as I slowly turned my head to the side to show Jade that expression I had. "You're really planning to use that on him?"

"Why not?" Jade answered with a shrug.

"_Still, there are advantages to siding with them while we're in Malkuth. You won't have to hide your identity, for one thing."_ Tear pointed out, casually.

"_Whatever! It's all your fault anyway. Ever since you came, it's been nothing but trouble!"_ I heard Luke sighed. He muttered something under his breath and I wasn't able to hear what he had just said, though it might have been some form of complaint.

"_Look on the bright side, Luke!"_ Anise chirped, cheerfully. _"At least the Colonel was being nice."_

"_What's so nice about that four-eyed freak?" _Luke asked Anise. He had a perturbed tone and he made a good point. Jade was never nice, he was being lenient. Well, thinking about Jade being a happy-go-round person like Anise would freak anybody out…though…that would be an amusing sight to see if that did happen.

"_Well…I heard that he helped the Lieutenant Colonel out of a bind…"_ Anise said after a few seconds of silence. I could imagine her with one finger on her cheek with her head tilted to the side so that she could think of a good example.

Ack! Better not let them talk about that subject any further…! I opened the door suddenly surprising nearly everybody in the room. The raven-haired girl squeaked a bit before recomposing herself, Ion gave a nervous smile. Luke had his fists on the table while Tear had her cuffed hands on her bosom and sighed quickly before setting them down onto her lap. I stood to the side allowing Jade to step into the room. Jade had crossed the floor effortlessly and stood in front of the table that was between him and our newest guests. He pushed his glasses up as it gleamed in the light.

"Do not mind us," Jade said. "Please. Continue the conversation as if we weren't here in the first place."

"Ehehe…How long had you two been there…?" she asked, nervously.

I shrugged before closing the door and walking up to the table, laying the map of Auldrant across the table. The map was big with a variety of points that indicated that they were cities. The cities, ports, towns and various rivers were labelled on the map. I straightened up after giving the map a good look. "Eh…For about a few minutes." I responded as I took my position. I was standing on Jade's left, just a bit further back. I looked at Luke and Tear who was giving Jade a look that said they weren't happy seeing them.

"Oh…" was Anise's response.

"It's quite rude to talk about people when they are at the door." He cast a side-glance towards Anise. She ended up laughing nervously with both her hands behind her back.

Ion cleared his throat as he made his way towards the table. He set Mieu onto a chair that was across from Luke and he then made his way towards Anise, who was already at the table. "Well…shall we get onto our business?"

"Yes, of course, Fon Master." Jade replied. He pushed his glasses up once more before directing the entire room's attention, aside from the two guards at the door, to the map in front of him. He tapped at a certain location on the map on the Kimlascan side. From what it said on the map, it was Baticul. Jade tapped it a couple more times. "The Seventh Fonon hyperresonance came from the direction of the capital of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear, Baticul-" He drew an invisible line with his finger towards the Malkuth territory. Like Baticul, he tapped a forest area twice. "-and converged inside Malkuth territory near Tataroo Valley."

He pushed his glasses back as he faced Luke and Tear. "Now, if you two were the source of that hyperresonance, that would make you guilty of illegally crossing the border into our country, wouldn't it?"

"Jeez, you're obnoxious." Luke said, not answering the question. He looked off to the side, completely uninterested.

Anise giggled, she covered her mouth with her fisted hand. "He called you obnoxious, Colonel~!"

"I'm terribly hurt." Jade said, jokingly. There was also a hint of sarcasm in his tone. Then again, it was Jade; there was _always _a hint of sarcasm in his tone. He looked at Tear with a serious expression now. "Moving on. Tear, we already know you're with the Oracle Knights." He looked at Luke. "But what about you, Luke? What's your full name?"

Luke's face twisted in disgust for a brief second before he answered, "Luke fon Fabre. I'm the same Luke you idiots tried to kidnap."

Ion and Anise's reaction became shocked while Jade and I was acting completely calm at the news. I knew that Luke had a royal title but Jade, on the other hand, had a really good poker face. No doubt it was a surprise for him too, but he was really good at not showing it. Jade rested a hand underneath his chin. "The son of Duke Fabre, who married into the Kimlascan royal family?"

"The son of a Duke~?" Anise clasped her hands together as she swayed to the side. She looked like she had suddenly fallen in love with someone…or their money perhaps… "Ohh~!"

"Why are you in Malkuth?" Jade questioned. "And what's this about a kidnapping? That doesn't sound very pleasant."

Luke opened his mouth to answer but Tear quickly cut in. She stood up from her seat so that everyone focused their attention on her. "Kidnapping aside. We're here only because our Seventh Fonons caused a hyperresonance. It wasn't an act of aggression against Malkuth by House Fabre."

Ion nodded as he looked at Jade. "Colonel, I believe Tear is telling the truth. I don't feel any hostility from him."

Jade nodded as well. "Yes. It does seem he's lived a sheltered life, completely ignorant of the world outside."

Luke snorted. "Fine, make fun of me."

"You _are_ sheltered, Luke…" I said, narrowing my eyes. "Some might even define you as a prick."

This time, Luke stood up from his seat. He narrowed his eyes at me. "What did you just call me?"

I took a few steps towards the table to slam my palm onto the table as I leaned in closer to him. "What? Never heard of the term for 'asshole' before?"

"Anh, don't start picking unnecessary fights." Jade told me, sternly. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back. I stumbled as I walked backwards, but I managed to regain my balance. I crossed my arms and looked away childishly and shamelessly.

"Luke, please don't mind her," Ion said to Luke, "she never meant any of it."

"No, I meant it." I corrected him. "Every single word."

Jade glanced over his shoulder to look at me. "Anh."

"Sir, yes, sir, lips are now sealed." I said, making a zipper motion across my lips. I also made a small locking motion on my lips before throwing away the invisible key before crossing my arms again.

Luke huffed before sitting back down. "Fine."

"Actually, why don't we ask them for help?" Ion asked, changing the subject. Jade glanced over his shoulders one more time. I gave him an innocent 'what?' look. Although, he might have guessed that I wasn't planning to shoot harsh comebacks at Luke…yet.

Jade turned his attention back at Luke and Tear. "We're heading for Kimlasca under orders from His Majesty, Peony the Ninth, Emperor of Malkuth."

The muscles on Tear's brow twitched a little bit. "To declare war…?" she asked.

Luke's eyes widened before he stood up once more and slammed his hands onto the table. "Declare war? A war is gonna start?"

Anise gave Luke a wink. "You've got it backwards, Luke. We're trying to prevent a war from breaking out."

Jade pushed his glasses up. "Anise, that's not public information."

Anise covered her mouth with her hand and gave Jade an innocent look. Almost like a child giving their parent(s) the same look after they did something wrong.

…Bad metaphor…

"Trying to prevent a war…?" Luke asked as he settled back into his seat. "Are relations between Kimlasca and Malkuth really that bad?"

"I think you're the only one who doesn't know…" Tear sighed. Luke turned to glare at Tear. He pointed a finger at her.

"…You know, you're obnoxious, too." He sneered. Tear didn't say anything to that; she appeared to have ignored it completely.

"We're going to release you now." Jade said. He turned at me and gave me a nod that signalled me to go unlock their cuffs. I sighed, complying with his silent order and walked over to the table to unlock Tear and Luke's cuffs respectively. While I was unlocking their handcuffs, he continued talking. "I'll grant you permission to enter any area you wish, apart from those containing military secrets. First, learn a little about us. Then, if you feel you can trust us, we'd like to ask your help. So that we might prevent this war."

I walked away from them with the pair of handcuffs and the keys in my hand. I handed both of them over to Jade when he held his hand out to me. I turned around after I handed the cuffs and keys to him to see both Luke and Tear rubbing their wrists. Although they both had gloves on, the cuffs were made of metal and it might have rubbed through the fabric and onto their skin given their expression and all. Luke was staring at us while rubbing his wrists, his expression contemplating.

"If you want us to help you, why don't you just tell us what's going on?" Luke asked.

"If we were to explain and then you decided not to cooperate with us, we would be forced to hold you captive." Jade answered, completely calm. The expected reaction came from the both of them when he had said that.

Sadist alert.

"What…?" Luke asked.

"This matter is a state secret. That's why I'm urging you to make up your mind first." Jade replied, casually. "I hope we have your understanding." He turned around to leave the room but stopped just when he opened the door. "Oh, and Anh. Accompany them when they decide to leave the room."

"Huh? What? Why?" I asked, completely distraught. I thought I was heading back to the bridge to do some work for him not do another form of watching.

Jade looked at me over his shoulder. He smirked slightly before pushing his glasses up. "You were being rather rude earlier. Think of it as punishment."

Before I could protest, he left the room swiftly.

* * *

"I don't believe this!" I cried out with my hands balling in my hair. We all exited from the room since Luke wanted to look around. Since Jade allowed Luke and Tear to wander/tour the Tartarus, the Malkuth military had returned their weapons to them. All of us, including myself, had left our weapons back in the room. Jade and Ion had guaranteed that there were no tricks or sneak attacks coming from the soldiers, so Luke and company can tour the Tartarus without being paranoid at every corner they make.

I made a fist and shook it into the air. It didn't matter who or what my fist was aimed at, I just felt like shaking it; it was a past habit of mine to shake my fist whenever I became frustrated. Accompanying with Luke, Tear, Mieu and I was Anise who would like to show Luke around the place. I was taking the lead; I looked behind me to see if everybody else was following. Behind me and to my left was Tear who was holding Mieu in her arms. Not too far from her, and on her left (my right), was Anise who was skipping happily along Luke's side. And Luke…Luke was walking directly behind me with both of his arms behind his head. He was flanked by Anise and Tear with me in the lead. If Jade saw this, he would make some weird comment about this…I just had this sneaking suspicion that he would.

Should avoid contact with him at all cost.

"You said it." Luke said, looking all around the halls. He made a tsk sound. "This place sure looks boring."

"This is a battleship, Luke," I told him as we stood in front of the door. We had to wait for a few seconds before the door slid open automatically. On the other side was Jade, just waiting to greet us. He had both of his hands behind his back; the light somehow made his glasses gleamed as if he was expecting us to show up at the door. That calm expression of his with the gleaming glasses made him looked like he was devising something. I took several steps back and ran into Luke. He cursed a bit while I blurted the first word that came into my mind, "Geh!"

"My, what is with that response, Anh?" Jade asked, looking down at me. The gleam from his glasses left since the height difference between him and I was that large. He looked up and past me and his eyebrows rose. His expression then changed from interested to amused. "Well, well, Luke. A lovely lady on each arm and one taking the lead? You are quite the ladies' man, if I do say so myself."

I slapped my palm to my face around the same time Anise said, "Oh, Colonel~!"

"I…I'm not…We're not…" I heard Tear stuttered.

Luke huffed. "He's not talking about you, Tear. He must mean Anise, Anh and Mieu."

I dropped my palm slightly with my brow furrowed. Did he just say that…? I turned around to face him. To the side, Tear had an odd, disbelieving look on her face. She wasn't the only one with a weird look; mine must have looked like that too. Anise had also given Luke a weird look as well. Jade must have given Luke a weird one from behind me or was he intrigued by Luke's understanding of females.

"Are you serious?" I asked him. Hello? Tear's big boobs? How could he not notice boobs _that _big? Anise was an ironing board and I had a decent yet small size, and both of our uniforms do not bother defining our boobs unlike Tear's uniform. Yet Luke was able to say that we were female. And as for Mieu…I vaguely recalled that the cheagle elder called Mieu a 'he'.

No comment, Luke…

Luke stared at me then at everybody else. "What?" he asked, defensively.

"But Master, I'm a boy!" Mieu said in Tear's arms. Mieu was waving his arms in the air towards Luke. Luke looked at Mieu with shock.

"What? You're a boy?"

"Of course I am!" Mieu said proudly as he put his arms on his small hips. He lifted his head up proudly.

"You sure as hell don't sound like one…" Luke muttered.

Jade coughed. "Now, now, settle down. By the way, what's this about a 'kidnapping' you mentioned earlier?"

Luke looked away with a grumpy face. It was a sore topic to him, anybody could tell by his expression. "How should I know? You people from Malkuth are the ones who kidnapped me!"

Jade's eyes narrowed suspiciously. He then changed his expression to a thoughtful one. "…Well, I'm afraid I don't know anything about it. Did it happen during the previous Emperor's reign?"

"Humph. Beats me. Thanks to that, I lost all of my childhood memories." Luke huffed as he crossed his arms. Jade's suspicious expression came back.

"I'm sure you have your grievances, but I do hope that we can obtain your cooperation." Jade said finally. He cocked his head to one side. "Which brings me to another question, why are you all here and not touring around the Tartarus?"

Everybody's attention went from Luke and Jade towards me. I blinked twice. "Eh?"

"You do know that this is near the bridge, Anh," Jade pointed out to me. I thought about it a few more seconds before I slapped my palm to my face again.

I lifted my face from my palm as I tried to say something. "I…uh… um…I forgot…"

Silence enveloped the entire deck. The silence was broken when someone giggled. A high-pitched, teasing giggle. It was Anise.

"Anh gets lost without a map!" Anise grinned. Luke had a wide smile on his face, Tear sighed with a slight smile on hers and Jade… I rather not get to Jade. I felt heat flushed to my face in embarrassment.

"Well, whatever the case is, I guess this is all we can see for now." Luke spoke up. He placed both of his hands behind his head before making his way towards the door. He stopped at the entrance to give us a nudge towards the door with his head. "Hey, let's check the other places."

Oh god, he totally saved my butt there. Anise was the first to go after Luke, followed by me and Tear. I didn't look back to see Jade's reaction, I don't think I want to right now. I focused my attention on what was ahead of me. Anise was hugging Luke's arm as she led the way. Luke was trying to keep his balance but that was pretty unsuccessful. From behind, he looked like he was wobbling, trying to keep his balance straight but cannot. Almost like a drunken person.

Now that was a sight that got me smiling. Luke must have never seen someone like Anise before. Young yet mature, sweet yet cunning, and a whole bunch of other stuff all in one.

"So, Luke~! Where do you want to go next?" Anise asked. I was walking beside Tear; the both of us gave the two of them a good distance away from them. Anise appeared to have gone head over heels over Luke.

Luke jerked his arms away from Anise. He crossed his arms so that she couldn't pull them away. "I don't know. What's on this ship anyway?"

Anise put a finger on her cheek. "Well, there's the bridge, there's a lounge where all the soldiers relax, and there's a cafeteria too…Well, a small one, anyway. Then there's a big room they used for meetings, and a bunch of rooms for everyone to sleep in."

"That's it? That doesn't sound very interesting." Luke set his arms to the side. Anise took that opportunity to grab it, but she wasn't pulling on it at all. She looked behind her and towards us so that Tear and I weren't left out of the conversation.

"Where do you want to go, Tear?" she asked the fonist. Tear seemed a bit startled by the question. Her hand was balled into a fist, covering her mouth, as she thought of where she wanted to go first.

"You said the lounge, and the cafeteria, right?" Tear asked, removing her hand from her mouth. "We could check the lounge then the cafeteria. I highly doubt that we are able to see the meeting room."

Anise yanked Luke's arm happily. She pointed down the hall. "All right! The lounge it is~!"

"Whoa, hey! You don't have to yank my arm!" Luke shouted when Anise started to walk, more like running, towards the lounge. Tear sighed with a palm pressed to her forehead and I sighed while shrugging lightly before we followed Anise and the protesting Luke.

* * *

In the lounge, there was a series of chairs that range from armchairs to barstools to more chairs I wasn't able to name. Most of the chairs were grouped into four or five and most of those groups of chairs surrounded either a large round table or a small square one. A few of the chairs were occupied by soldiers who were either in some form of conversation or playing a game of cards. The lounge had the same blue walls and design as the halls, there were circular windows that were encircled by gold lining. The lighting on the ceiling wasn't too bright, but it wasn't that dim. It just gave the room the right hue and colour for the atmosphere.

We all walked through it, finding a spot so that we can take a seat. Hopefully, Luke would choose a spot away from the soldiers. As we all walked by, the soldiers steadily grew quiet, one by one. Either they were giving Luke and Tear a suspicious look or they were giving me that very same look. Most of them just avoided looking at us all together.

"This is a very cheery crowd," Luke commented, sarcastically, as he placed his hands behind his head. He shot each of the soldiers a glare whenever they gave him one. Anise, who had to release his arm, fell back and was now walking between Tear and I.

"…tenant Colonel?" a soldier whispered to another. He was quiet at the beginning and it steadily grew louder so that all of our attention was directed towards him. I tried my best not to listen but the tick on Anise's jaw said that she was not pleased at what she was hearing. It seemed Luke had also heard it as he turned his head towards that direction and lowered his arms to his sides. We walked past them before another one spoke up, this time louder.

"I heard that she was some girl the Colonel had picked up in Daath. Apparently she had no experience in battle whatsoever." Another spoke up.

"How did someone like _that_ become the Lieutenant Colonel so quickly?"

"I bet that-"

"What are you? Soldiers or a bunch of gossip girls?" Luke snapped at the soldiers before they could finish their sentence. The soldiers immediately became quiet and Luke tsked. He turned around and grabbed my wrist, pulling me to a remote corner where very little soldiers were around. Anise and Tear, with wide eyes, hastily followed him. Luke released my wrist and took a seat when we all made it to the corner. I stood there, baffled. Luke gestured to the armchairs for the three of us. "Well? Sit down."

I exchanged confused glances with Anise and Tear before we sat down along with Luke. When we had settled comfortably in our seats, Luke pinned me with an intense stare.

"Spill it." Luke demanded.

"What?" I asked him.

"How you got into this mess, spill it." Luke repeated, lengthening his sentence. "I want to know why you are submitting yourself to this gossip without saying anything to clear your name!"

"…Luke…" Tear whispered his name. She gave him a kind smile when he showed some form of concern for me.

I looked down at my lap. Luke had already made himself comfortable for a long story by leaning back onto his chair with his hands behind his head, again. He crossed his legs; setting one ankle to rest over his thighs. Anise and Tear had also made themselves comfortable, except they just sat straight and braced themselves for the story. Hesitantly, I opened my mouth to explain it all. Leaving out as much information as I can.

"I found myself in Daath without money or any extra pair of clothes." I said, summing up the events to the shortest sentence I can think of. "Jade just happened to be there when I decided to skip the bill from an inn and he suddenly decided to help me out. Because he was my main provider of money, I agreed to work for him until I paid him back no matter how long it took. Stupid, really, but I really don't like the idea that someone paid me without getting anything in return. I really don't know why but he made me his second-in-command. So…basically that's all there is to it."

"Sooo… The Colonel helped you out, and you felt indebted to him, right?" Anise concluded.

"I guess you could word it that way." I laughed nervously. It wasn't my decision to be indebted to him; I had to choose to accept his offer and do something about it or say no and be screwed. Personally, I wouldn't want to be the latter.

"I guess that explains why you lack battle experience," Tear said, "but it sure was a surprise for the Colonel to make an offer to you."

Yeah…you bet that was a surprise.

"You just have money problems, right?" Luke asked, intrigued. He uncrossed his legs, removed his hands from behind his head and leaned closer to me with one arm propped on his thigh. "If money's what you need, why don't you work for me when we get back at Baticul? I'm sure we can pay you nicely."

"Do you really want me to die?" I asked him darkly, balling my hands into fists on my lap. I was stiff, completely stiff. "Making an agreement with Jade was like making a contract with the devil himself!"

Though I had to admit, it was a tempting offer, coming from Luke. But I, unfortunately, had to turn it down. As much as I wanted to cut ties with Jade, I don't think I want to know the result if I did. Jade was too clever. I believed that Jade wanted to find more of my secrets as much as he can by keeping me at his side. Eventually, he would figure it out entirely, but how long would that take? Days? Weeks? Months?

Luke scooted back to his chair. He tsked. "Well, I tried to help." He blinked a couple of times before he decided to ask me another question. "Oh yeah. Why do you call him Jade when you're with just us, Ion and him, but you call him 'Colonel' or 'sir' when you're around those other soldiers?"

"Just to show that we're not that friendly as they thought we were." I answered simply. God, I hated the gossips. I just wanted to keep a low profile as much as I can. Being all friendly with Jade would make the both of us the subject for a lot of wrong conclusions. Peony's conclusion being one of them, though Jade seemed to take light and even ignored all of those conclusions. I, however, am deeply bothered by them. I guess I would be deemed as cowardly since I never stood up for myself.

"Oh, so this is where you all are!" a voice spoke up suddenly. I jumped in my seat as I instinctively moved my hand up just above my boobs. I looked up to see who the voice came from and immediately sighed in relief. I let my arms fall to the side after I realized that it was Ion that had just spoke up.

"You scared the living daylights out of Anh, Ion!" Luke grinned, jokingly, as he looked at the Fon Master. Ion tilted his head to the side as he looked at me.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Anh." He apologized. "I didn't know. Did I come at a bad time?"

"Not at all, Fon Master." Tear responded as she stood up to offer him her seat. Ion gave Tear a smile before taking her seat. "Anh was just explaining some small details that we wanted to know."

"Really now?" Ion asked, interested. He looked at me and gave me a smile. "I'm sure you all know that Anh is a kind person."

"Yeah, a kind person who willingly submit herself to a devil," Luke said. Tear shot him a glare and he gave her a defensive look. "What? I was just wording it the way she did. Besides, everybody would know or guess that Jade's a devil. Did you see how calm he was when he threatened us?"

"The Colonel isn't that scary!" Anise chirped.

Luke gave Anise a look that asked her if she was insane. "When and where was he not being scary?"

Anise cocked her head slightly to the left as one finger lightly touched her cheek. She was pondering on Luke's question, trying to find the answer to his question. After a really long minutes of silence, she finally answered, "He just is~!"

"That wasn't very helpful." Luke smacked his hand to his forehead. Ion gave a smile that seemed to enjoy the conversation we were in. Tear sighed before she looked to the side; she placed a hand underneath her chin, deep in thought.

"Though I have heard of his name before," she murmured. "I just don't know where…"

"Did you say something?" Luke asked the fonist. Tear glanced at Luke and shook her head.

"Nothing."

Luke frowned at her but he decided not to press it any further. He stood up and stretched. "Well, we should head back. I've made my decision now."

"You're agreeing to help with us?" Ion asked. There was a hint of joy in his tone. Luke smirked and gave Ion thumbs up.

"I am totally declining his offer!"

The entire room was silent… Actually, our corner was the only area silent. The only sound that can be heard was the murmuring from the other soldiers in the room. Meanwhile, there was one thought that passed through my mind: Whaaaat?

* * *

**Uh-oh. Luke's going decline on Jade's offer. That was totally not what was supposed to happen. Tune in next time to find out what he really meant!**

**If anybody had noticed…Luke answered with sarcasm. SARCASM! If you want to know why he said that, then scroll up and find the sentence that made him said that. If you can't find it, then wait for the next chapter.**

**Review please! And…I don't know…Uh…anybody wants a cheagle sandwich? *stares at the only cheagle there***

**Mieu: **_**Myuu~**_**?**


	7. Chapter 6: Attack on the Tartarus

**Just to say because a reader just happened to have mentioned it through Chikuto's livestream... What the happened to those readers that put this story on story alert? Are you guys even reading this? I mean, two readers that reviewed had this fic on their Faves and they still reviewed and I thank them for reviewing because at least I know they are reading this. What about you guys that put this on story alert…? I don't feel loved by you guys… D:**

**I was actually hoping that a few readers knew about the ToA abridged series that was put up on Youtube. That's where I got the cheagle sandwich idea from. X3 Anywho… Sarcasm…Gotta love it and hate it at the same time. Then again, Anh's me. And I'm pretty dense when sarcasm is thrown at me. It's even harder to tell if it was sarcasm if the text thrown in front of you.**

…**Moving on!**

**I thank my lovely beta, Mieu (not the cheagle). She's been doing a great job and for that she had my deep respect. :D She just won't know that I said that right here.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToA. If I did, Jade would be younger and I would totally pair him up with me. But then that would be considered cheating in a way… And yes, I'm still his darn fangirl despite the evilness I made OC Anh had to go through.**

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* * *

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**Chapter 6: Attack on the Tartarus!**

I fell for it.

I completely fell for it! Luke was actually being _sarcastic_ when he said that he planned to decline Jade's offer, though I had absolutely no clue why he said that. Rather…I didn't know about it until Luke said the opposite of what he told us _to_ Jade. Apparently, Tear, Anise and even Ion (ION FOR PETE'S SAKE KNEW) knew that he was being sarcastic while I was being stupid.

God I felt stupid.

* * *

Jade had walked into the room with Marco behind him. Luke was sitting on the chair albeit in a different spot, initially he was across from Ion, now he traded spots with Tear so she was the one across from the Fon Master. Now, there were eight people in the room. Luke, Tear, Ion, Anise, Mieu, Jade, Marco and I. There used to be another soldier guarding the room with Marco, but he was ushered out of the room for privacy or something like that. Jade had his hands behind his back and a stoic expression on his face. But that expression changed extremely quickly, Jade pushed his glasses up and gave Luke a small smirk.

"Well, my being here must mean that you have come to a conclusion." The expression of his was taunting, yet teasing at the same time.

Luke had his arms crossed and showed a smug expression. He gave Jade his own smirk, crossed his arms, and finally said, "What do we need to know to get this over with?"

Tear had a sharp look on her face; Anise and Ion shared their smiling expressions with each other. I, on the other hand, was confused as heck. Of course, what I thought wasn't what matters the most.

"Oh? Is that what you think?" Jade asked, tauntingly. He had one hand on his chin. "What if you decide to back out after we explain the situation to you?"

Luke frowned. "As long as I get to Baticul, I'll uphold my end of the agreement."

"Fair enough." Jade replied after a few seconds of silence. He pushed his glasses up before clearing his throat and resting his hands at his sides. "Small, localized conflicts have broken out recently. It's likely that those will soon escalate into full-scale war. After all, the truce for the Hod War is only 15 years old."

Ion took a step forward and placed his hand over on the left side of his chest. "Emperor Peony has written a letter proposing a formal peace treaty. They requested my aid as a neutral ambassador."

"If that's the case, then why do people think you've gone missing?" Luke asked Ion, his brow furrowed. "_Master Van_ went looking for you, you know!"

Ion gave Luke a deadpan stare. "That's due to matters within the Order of Lorelei."

Ion must love using that line because he frequently says that 'insert topic here' was confidential.

"A conflict is unfolding between the reformist Fon Master faction, centered around Ion, and the conservative Grand Maestro faction, centered around Grand Maestro Mohs." Jade explained for Ion. Ion lowered his gaze onto the ground before looking back up.

"Mohs is looking for war. I managed to escape from Mohs' custody with the help of the Malkuth military. Rather-" he gestured towards Jade and I, "-_their_ help."

Tear gasped, her eyes widened in horror before she stood up and slammed her hands into the table. "Fon Master Ion! There must be some mistake! Grand Maestro Mohs would never desire such a thing!" She formed fists before she sighed, calming herself down. "Mohs prays only for the fulfillment of the Score."

Anise pouted, she leaned closer to Tear with an elbow on the table to support herself. "So Tear is with the Grand Maestro faction? That's really disappointing…"

"I'm neutral," Tear stated, simply. She gave Anise a calm stare. "Yulia's Score is important, but so are the Fon Master's wishes."

"Hey, guys. Hello!" Luke spoke up, irritated. He tapped his arm in an irritated fashion. "You want to slow down so I can follow?"

"My apologies," Jade said, pushing his glasses up. Tear gave Luke a look before settling back down to her seat. "I'd forgotten the young master here hasn't a clue about the world around him."

Ouch. That was a full-blown diss.

A muscle ticked near Luke's jaw, he seemed pretty irritated by Jade's words. "…What did you say?" Luke's tone seemed to dare Jade to repeat his words. Jade would have taken the challenge but he made the smart choice to keep quiet. If that was directed to me, I would have repeated it, taunting Luke some more…though I think I had already done that.

"Regardless of the state of affairs within the Order, I must deliver this letter to Kimlasca." Ion said, ridding the tension between the two.

"But we are the soldiers of an enemy nation. Even as emissaries of peace, it won't be easy for us to cross the border." Jade continued, looking at Luke. "If we delay, the Grand Maestro faction will catch up with us and interfere. That is why we need your help…" He cocked his head to the side and gave Luke a crooked smile. "Well, actually, we really just need your social status."

Luke leaned back onto his chair, looking more amused than disgusted. "Oh, I'm hurt, gramps. Is that all I'm good for?" He flicked his hair to the side. "And didn't anyone ever teach you to bow your head in respect when asking a favour?"

"Don't act like that, Luke," Tear scolded him lightly. She elbowed him in the side and Luke flinched a bit. "You don't want a war, either, do you?"

"Would you just shut up?" he snapped at her. Luke turned his attention back at Jade. "…Well?"

There was yet another tension in the air followed by awkward silence. The person that had to make the next move was Jade, no one knew if he was planning to agree to Luke's bidding or not. After a good minute of silence, both were locked in a stare and neither appeared to be budging from whatever decision they had decided. Finally, Jade sighed and inclined his head a little bit. He muttered something underneath his breath before he walked towards Luke, passed the table and went down onto one knee. He had a fist across the left side of his chest, just over his heart and his head was inclined towards Luke. Everybody's, and that included Luke, were staring at him in awe, except for Marco, who appeared extremely shocked by the action.

"Commander!"

"Master Luke, please grant us your aid," Jade 'pleaded', ignoring Marco's words. His expression was dead serious and he had never lifted his gaze from the ground. Then again, his eyes were closed the entire time. This scene looked like a part of a movie or an anime where the commander of an army pleads to a higher up good-for-nothing.

Oh wait…That was exactly what this scene was. Luke, eyebrows still raised, placed both of his hands behind his head.

"Man, do you even have any pride?" he asked the Colonel. Jade took that as his cue to rise from the floor and pushed his glasses up. The light from the ceiling caused a gleam on his glasses, hiding the emotions in his eyes.

"None so cheap as to be shaken by this, sir." Jade replied, coolly. He held a smile on his face. Luke tsked as he lowered his hands; he appeared to be slightly disappointed.

"I get it. You just need me to talk to my uncle, right?"

The gleamed still remained on his glasses. Jade was cradling one arm underneath another as if he was expecting that answer. His smile said it all. "You have my deepest gratitude. Now by your leave, Master Luke, I must attend to other matters. Please make yourself comfortable."

"Drop the 'Master' thing, I'll throw up." Luke half-demanded and half-threatened.

Was it really that bad to be called 'Master' by Jade? Although it did sound like he was making a mockery of the title.

Jade's glasses lost its gleam when he lowered his gaze by a little bit. "As you wish, _Master_ Luke."

Luke tsked and, like earlier, Jade left the room swiftly and silently before someone else was able to utter another word. The silence here wasn't as tense as it was before; therefore, I started to snicker a bit. I held a hand over my mouth trying to prevent a laugh the best I can. It was working…somewhat. The scene kept replaying in my head, causing my laughter to pile up.

"_Master_ Luke…" I muttered, trying to hold back a laugh.

"Shut it, _Lieutenant Colonel_."

That got me to shut up immediately.

* * *

"I feel sad." I declared out loud. My arms were crossed and resting on the bar in front of me, and my head was resting in between my arms. My butt was probably sticking out and my feet were a good distance away from the bar. If anybody were to see me, I wouldn't look too lady-like. After the discussion, I asked Luke why did he suddenly decided to agree to Jade instead of telling him what he told us. His answer…?

'_You did say that making a deal with him was the same as making a contract with the devil, didn't you?_'

Basically, the result of that was me slapping my palm to my face numerous times, my face turning as red as a stop sign from either the pain or the embarrassment, Anise was laughing so hard that she had to find a chair to grip as she clutched her stomach, Ion was laughing nervously but obviously enjoying the short conversation, and Tear was sighing at either Luke or me or at the both of us. Thank God or Yulia or Lorelei or all three of them that Jade wasn't in the room else I would be a dead girl. Dead from embarrassment.

"Why is that?" Ion asked me. I looked over to the side. Ion had one hand on the bar and another holding his staff. Once the conversation was done, he asked me if I wanted to accompany him outside since 1) he said that complicated discussions tires him and wanted some fresh air, and 2) he knew that Jade had asked me to keep an eye on him for safety reasons. I, of course, said yes since I had no better reason to. I could stick around with Luke but I rather not do that after acting like a fool back there.

There was a light breeze flying past us. The Tartarus was going at a nice pace so that the breeze was just right. It lightly played with Ion's hair, blowing it towards my direction and it was doing the same with mine. Though it seemed that the wind was in Ion's favour instead of mine, then again, Ion's hair was tied neatly while mine was all loose. No doubt that his hair will stay the same while my hair would be tangled and knotted in some areas.

"Luke…" I answered him, burying my head back into my arms. "I thought he said he was going to decline."

"But he was giving us a thumbs up," Ion pointed out. "Doesn't that explain that he was going to say yes?"

Of course that would be the logical situation but I couldn't help but take things really literally. "Don't remind me…!" I moaned, without lifting my head. I heard Ion chuckled lightly and not too long after that the sound of the wind was all that was heard between us.

"It looks really nice out," I heard him say finally. I lifted my head up from my arms to give the scenery a good look.

…All I saw was grass, plains, the occasional trees/forests, small groups of monsters, and a bunch of rocks. The colours flying by were a mix of light and dark green, yellow, grey, and blobs of purple. It didn't look too appealing but anything was better than the Cheagle Woods. Ugh…Too many things that are green. At least, there was a variety of colours wherever you look…Unlike the Cheagle Woods which was green at every turn. The scenery itself was still boring, overall.

"What's so nice about it?" I asked, pushing myself away from the bar. I kept one hand on the bar while another combing through my hair. "It looks the same wherever you go."

"Yes, but I don't get to see this very often," Ion admitted, his eyes were sparkling as if he was burning everything to memory. "Most of my time was in Daath, handling matters of the Order. Whenever I was free, I would take strolls down on the street. I don't get to leave Daath very often, so it looks beautiful to me."

Oh…I forgot about that.

"You're the Fon Master of the Order, though!" I said, loudly. "If you wanted to, you can just leave Daath with a few Fon Master Guardians and play hooky once and a while."

"Easier said than done, Anh." Ion laughed a bit. "I know you mean well, but it's harder than you think."

"And why is that, Ion?" I asked, but I quickly corrected myself because Ion had a higher rank than I was. "I mean Fon Master."

Ion blinked at me twice before chuckling. "Please, call me Ion," he told me with a smile. "I prefer it if you call me that."

If you weren't the Fon Master and a man, Ion, I would hug you tightly on the spot. Though, hugging him would make me feel a bit sad…height-wise…

"Ion, then…" I gave him a nod. Ion opened his mouth to say something else but suddenly, a loud blaring noise caught both of our attention. Ion and I exchanged glances before running back inside where the alarm system was still blaring and flashing a red glow came from the ceiling.

"Isn't this a warning alarm?" Ion asked me. I didn't know what was going on but I would have to say yes. A pair of footsteps was heard running towards our direction, and Marco suddenly came into view. With my stuff over his shoulders, too!

"Fon Master! Lieutenant Colonel!" He shouted before he stood in front of us. He quickly saluted me and I gave him a salute back. He lowered his hand and passed me my bag with my rifle in it. I lifted it over my shoulders but it somehow felt even heavier than it was before. "I have urgent news! We're-"

"Under attack." I guessed, adjusting my bag. Heavy…who put more stuff in here and what did they put in it…? Aside from that, the attack came pretty fast. We now had to deal with monsters, Oracle Knights and about two to three God-Generals. Perfect time to cower in a corner... If it weren't for the damn job I was given...!

"There were reports that ligers and griffins are coming in mass numbers!" Marco explained. "I was told by the Colonel recently, if we were suddenly attacked, I was to lead the Fon Master as well as the Lieutenant Colonel towards the emergency exit where you both will meet up with Fon Master Guardian Tatlin to make your escape."

"And what about the Colonel?" I asked.

"We have no time to waste. The Colonel said to leave him behind, and let him take care of the Tartarus." Marco answered. "He said that he is leaving everything in your care, Lieutenant Colonel."

Great, just great, Jade. Leave everything to me…shove your entire burden towards the newbie. I would gladly take that burden, if it weren't a _dire _situation! And _if_ I was able to leave here safely. I highly doubt that. Marco grabbed my wrist and started pulling me. Apparently, I was acting too slow. Ion was also running with us. We barely made a turn until the alarm suddenly stopped and I heard Marco cursed. He pulled me ahead of him and turned around. Ion and I stopped to see what he was doing. He unsheathed his sword and prepared himself for battle.

"Go!" He shouted at us. "I'll hold them back!"

Before either of us could protest, he ran back to where we were before. Ion prayed silently before grabbing my hand.

"Let's go, Anh," he said, "We have to deliver the letter."

"Yeah, but…do we even _have_ the letter?"

Ion's brow twitched before he reached into my bag. I didn't even have to bend down for him to go through it; he was tall enough to reach in it with no problem at all. After a quick search, Ion pulled out a purple scroll of some sort and showed it to me. My eyebrows flew straight up. Since when did that get there?

"Jade must have put this here before hand." Ion said with a smile. "Now, please, let's go."

He tugged on my sleeve before we started running. That was great, but seriously, where are we supposed to go? I sure didn't have a clue, and I was sure Ion wasn't sure either. However, we made a lot of turns in every possible corner. There was some fighting down some halls; we avoided the halls that had fighting in them.

"Ion!" I cried out. "Do we even have a clue where we are going?"

"Unfortunately, no." Ion replied, panting. We ran into a couple of soldiers. _Oracle Knights_ to be more exact. We both halted and turned around to change directions, only to see a couple more behind us. Just when we thought that we were doomed and caught, someone shouted.

"Get down!"

We both crouched down onto the floor as ordered; I had my arms over Ion and was gripping him tightly. A few Oracle Knights grunted and shouted, followed by a series of punches, loud thumps, and broken metal being…well…broken. Not too long after we hit the ground, two large arms slapped the ground and dust flew up into the air. A pair of feet stood right in front of us and the person sighed. It was a feminine sigh. It was…an Anise sigh.

"Honestly, Anh," she sighed, again, "what would you do without me?"

"I'd be crouching in a corner crying for Jade…?" I responded, sarcastically, looking up. Anise had her fists on her hips, legs parted away from each other, a Grumpy expression (pun intended), and a gigantic voodoo doll right behind her. Her eyebrows rose when I said that.

"You're so dependent on the Colonel," Anise sighed…again. She was tapping the side of her face while looking up at the ceiling before turning her attention back at me. She was leaning in really close to me with an upset expression with her finger pointing close to my face. I had to back up a little bit, focusing my attention on the finger. "You need to learn to be an independent woman but we'll get to that later. On the subject at hand, would you please let go of Ion? He looked like he's about to die in your hold."

"Can't breathe, Anh…" Ion replied weakly, patting my arm. I gasped before letting him go.

"Sorry!"

"I'm okay," he replied with a smile. Anise let out a frustrated sigh.

"We need to work on your body-guarding skills…" she muttered. She turned around and turned her doll back into…a backpack…? Anise placed the doll back onto its usually spot: on her back. She turned her attention back to us. "That aside, we have to get out of here…Now!"

She grabbed Ion's wrist and started to run off. I sighed before following her, staring at not at what was in front of me, but at the doll on her back. No, seriously was that a backpack or a doll…? I couldn't tell because it looked like both. If it was a doll, how was it able to hang on her back without falling off…? If it was a backpack, how can she just whip it over her shoulders as if it was nothing? I should question Anise about this another time.

We didn't get too far when an Oracle soldier, not too far ahead of us, saw us running and pointed in our direction. "Over here!"

"They are so persistent!" Anise scowled before pulling Ion in another direction. I quickly followed them, keeping up with them the best I can. "We have to get out of here. The others ran into a God-General. The Colonel should be able to finish him off with Tear and Luke, and I would bet my entire salary that there are more God-Generals searching for Ion."

"The thing is…would you really bet your salary on something like that?" I asked, dully. Anise casted me a sharp look.

"That's beside the point! What I'm saying is that, there are more God-Generals aboard on this ship. If we don't get out of here quickly, we are dead meat!"

"Why don't you just fight your way through?"

"I would if Tokunaga wasn't moving so slow."

So it had a name…If I remember correctly, that was a butler to Zelos' family in Tales of Symphonia and a captain in Tales of Vesperia. Though, this Tokunaga could pack more punch than the other two. I could congratulate the person that made Tokunaga into a fighting machine, but I believe the creator would be…a bit too egotistic if _anybody_ thanked him.

"Besides," Anise continued, "even if I bought some time for you both to run, you can't protect Ion by yourself."

"That's true…" I nodded.

"Um…ladies…?" Ion spoke up. "We should talk less and run faster because there are more soldiers coming from behind."

"Oh, for the love of Lorelei!" Anise shouted, picking up the pace. I groaned before catching up with them.

We were running down on the same hallway, while at least a couple of soldiers behind us. I wasn't able to tell but from the sound of footsteps hitting the floor, at least two, at most five or something like that. I was guestimating so I could be off by a long shot. And just when I thought we could leave without problem, an Oracle Knight blocked out path, calling for reinforcements. We all stopped in our tracks as we were surrounded. Ion turned Anise around and handed her the scroll.

"Anise, please take care of the letter." Ion ordered her in a soft tone. Anise looked from the scroll to Ion.

"But Ion, you'll-" Anise started to protest but Ion placed a firm hand onto her shoulders. He gave her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about me," he told her before the soldiers finally caught up to us. Anise shoved the scroll onto her belt behind her back. Ion inched closer to me and I kept a hand over my small gun that was still in its pouch. Anise was giving every soldier a death glare. I would have cowered in fear from that look if it were directed at me, and I hoped that it would work on the soldiers because this was a fine mess we were in. A soldier walked closer to Ion and grabbed his wrist. Anise acted extremely quickly, punching the soldier in the face the moment his hand made contact with Ion. She wrapped her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist as she pounded her fist onto the helmet as if she was scolding the soldier. I took this opportunity to pull Ion closer to me.

Sheesh, for a 13/14 year old girl, she was one deadly little flower when it comes to Ion, money, or her family.

"Don't lay a single finger on Ion!" she screamed, still pounding on the helmet. The soldier was struggling to try to get her off of him. He eventually grabbed her uniform and tossed her to the closest wall…er…window. Anise flew out of the window, shattering the glass in the process, Ion and I gasped and ran to the window in attempt to save her. It was a futile attempt but at least we got a really good look at her face. It changed from shock to anger in one quick second.

"Anise!" Ion screamed her name. I saw her falling backside down at a rapid speed. She was pointing to the window leaving only one message.

"I'LL KILL YOU BASTARDS!"

"That…doesn't sound very threatening if you were falling from a window…" I commented.

"Anh!"

"What? I'm just saying."

The soldiers grabbed Ion's hand and pulled it behind his back as if he was arrested. They proceeded to do the same to me but I quickly unholstered my gun and shot the ones that captured Ion and canned closest soldier to me with all my might. Two of them fell down from the blast and the other fell down clutching his groin. With all that armour, I was a bit surprised that he actually fell down.

"Sorry!" I apologized before grabbing Ion and fleeing.

"What did you do to him?" Ion asked me. I held up the small gun so that Ion can see.

"Jade gave me this little guy for self defence." I explained.

"I meant the other one."

"Oh…I hit him in his baby-maker."

"Does it hurt?"

"It should hurt. I wouldn't know because I'm a woman."

"Yes, I'm well aware that the parts of men and women are very different."

Then why the questions…? _You_ of all people should know if a man's balls get kicked, it hurts like a mother. Unless…Ion was not a guy and was a woman secretly crossdressing…

...Nah...

"It's time to end this game of cat and mouse." A stern, and new, voice shouted. It was feminine…again. But this time, the person caught up to us with quick speed, jumped right over us, landed a good two meters away from us and was able to point one gun at my forehead before we even got a chance to run off in another direction. My eyes widened as all I could see was a gun in front of me, but I could tell who was right behind that gun.

"Hand over the Fon Master and surrender quietly!" The woman demanded with a commanding tone. Or should I say…

Legretta the Quick.

"Legretta, please don't hurt her," Ion begged, as the soldiers that was chasing us caught up with us. From the corner of my eye, I could see one of them got Ion's hands behind his back while another one took his staff. I was staying perfectly still, like a statue. I don't want to make a wrong move so my brains wind up getting blown out or anything. At the same time, I don't even know what the heck Legretta was doing.

"She wears a Malkuth uniform, Fon Master." Legretta stated. I rolled my eyes.

Oh, gee, thanks. Like that wasn't obvious enough.

"If you hurt her, then I will refuse to cooperate," Ion demanded. "She's innocent, and I don't want her involved in more than she already is."

Ixnay on the upidstay, Ion. Now was not the time to go all heroic on me. The gun on my forehead pressed even harder, forcing me to lean back a little and causing me to reveal my palms to Legretta.

"Fon Master, be more considerate." Legretta said to Ion.

"I will not change this decision."

I seriously love you, Ion. Too bad you are a bit too young for me. Note to self: one hug for the Fon Master.

"If that is what you desire," I heard Legretta said finally. She lowered her weapon and flicked her head to the side. "Take away her weapons and bag. We found the Fon Master as instructed, we don't need anymore needless killing."

The Oracle Knights behind us preceded as they were instructed; taking away my weapon and leaving me defenceless. They shoved me along with Ion who mouthed 'sorry' in my direction with sad eyes. I just shrugged and mouthed 'that's all right' back to him. This was a lot better than being tossed out of the window. Heck, if I was thrown out of the window, I might get stuck in the hole and would stay stuck. We were soon brought to the bridge and I paled at the sight of the battle that was held there.

A variety of corpses ranging from humans to monsters lay on the ground. The monsters were lucky and were stabbed to death or beheaded, the soldiers on the other hand, were not as fortunate. Some of them were lucky and stayed in one piece with a missing limb, others were unfortunate and their flesh was torn away from their bodies. There was some Oracle Knights among the mess, but it seemed that the monsters weren't preying on their carcasses. I would hate to be the one to have watched the entire scene. The walls and the poles were smeared with blood. The bridge was a sea of blood, enough for someone to swim in, and most of it trickled down the sides of the Tartarus. Aside from the blood, there were scattered weapons both broken and complete, pieces of fabric covered in blood was floating around, pieces to lumps of flesh were scattered all around and…was that an organ…?

Okay, I may have seen a live, freshly cut cow heart during high school but seeing another organ that was not cut out cleanly was a nastier sight. The smell…Oh God, the smell of iron in the air was heavier than the one in Cheagle Woods, mainly because it was just _one_ body that died in the Cheagle Woods and here… I don't even know how much soldiers had died battling the Oracle Knights and the monsters. They were outnumbered and yet…their death was more brutal. I felt extremely weak; my foot felt like it was going to slip any moment now. I felt something underneath my foot and I looked down at it.

Staring right back at me was a round white sclera with red veins surrounding the brown iris. The optic nerve was still attached to the head and to the ball so it was pulled directly out of the body. The sight of the iris and the size of the pupil made the organ looked like it was pleading towards me for help but I can't help but stare at it, unable to move a single muscle. My eyes widened in horror as my legs gave away. Next thing I knew, I saw black as someone called my name.

* * *

**And, I'll end it there.**

**Also, when typing Ion, I always, always have this strong urge to put '-sama' behind his name because it was more formal than just Ion. T_T I don't want to, of course. And another weird thing that I have done was type 'Marcus' instead of 'Marco'. I don't know why, the first person with the name Marcus in my mind came from Fire Emblem. How does that connect to ToA, I have no flipping clue. O.o**

**And…I made another Utawarerumono reference. *headdesk* I haven't even watched that anime is such a long time, and suddenly I'm referencing it…**

**Excuse me for the meh bloody scene. I can't really describe them very well but specific body parts that I learned from high school is something I can do...Like a man's-*gets shot***

**Speaking of body parts, guess what body part made Anh collapse. I don't think it's that hard to figure out that part. The person that guesses it gets...Anh's contacts until the next chapter!**

**Anh: !  
**

**Anyway, the button. Push it. Shit happens.**


	8. Chapter 7: Enter the Amazing Guy

**When I said shit would happen, I wasn't expecting a damaged laptop. Good thing these chapters were saved on a flash drive else I'd be bawling my eyes out by now. And luckily I'm borrowing the other computer.**

**...Never thought I'd be typing in this monster again...**

**Moving on...**

**I got myself a distraction! It's called Tales of Innocence! :D Go play it. I won't spoil it for anybody except those at the forum. You know who you are. XD Also, reviews are reviews, doesn't matter if you can type a good one or not (a certain person I know just put an emoticon review to another story once). It matters to the author or authoress that people are loving the story they write. :)**

**For some reason, I can't center the title on Document Manager. *shakes fist at Doc Manager***

**And so I thank my beta, Mieu, for editing this. I wouldn't do so well if it wasn't for her.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToA.**

**

* * *

****Chapter 7: Enter the Amazing Guy!**

"...Ugh..."

"..._ar...! ...s movi...!"_

_Go away you high-pitched squeaky voice._ My ears were ringing.

Something or someone shook me. I instinctively swatted away whatever it was and rolled over to the other side. That high-pitched voice made some noise when I rolled over. It didn't matter, I was tired and as long as nothing bothered me, I won't bother them. However, that didn't stopped the shaking to come back, a firm hand grasped my shoulder, shaking me lightly as someone called my name.

"…_Anh…!_"

I came into realization that someone was trying to rouse me from my sleep. Ugh…my head. It felt like something extremely heavy banged my head against the wall or a hard object. I opened my eyes only to find out that a blaring light was shown right in front of my face, forcing me to shut my eyes tight while tears dropped from my face. I aimlessly flailed my hand towards the source to block the light and either it worked or someone moved it away from my face. After lying there and covering my eyes with my arm, I got onto my side before opening my eyes. I had to blink twice to find that my surroundings were a bit blurry.

Had someone taken those contacts off?

"Anh!" the voice repeated again. There was a grip on my shoulder, allowing me to face the person who was talking to me. I had to squint a little bit only to find a mass of brown blob. God dammit, there was tears in my line of vision.

"Tear…?" I asked, blinking once more. I rubbed my eyes to get rid of the tears that had dried on my face and wiped away the ones that was clinging to the edges of my eyes. Once the tears were gone from my face, I looked back at Tear. She was still blurry around the edges but at least I can see her better. I looked around just to see if it was just Tear that was blurry. Turns out that everything else was blurry around the edges as well. "Who…? Where? My contacts…"

"Take it easy now. We're in a cabin in the Tartarus. Your contacts were taken out by the Colonel." Tear explained. "Thank goodness. When we saw you unconscious with us, we were worried that something had happened. Luckily, you just fainted."

"It was rather unfortunate to know that there were two other God-Generals were aboard the Tartarus," a new voice spoke up. Jade's. "They captured Ion."

"But they did not get the letter." I said, determined. "Ion gave it to Anise."

"And what happened to Anise?"

I opened my mouth to give an answer but paused a bit. Let's see...Anise was thrown out of the window after bashing an Oracle Knight on the helmet. Her being thrown out and shouting her threat was the parts I remember very clearly. Should she be fine...? She should be. After all, it _was_ Anise we were talking about.

"…Alive… Hopefully." I answered. "It's Anise, after all." Something small tugged on my sleeve before it scurried up it. Soft fur brushed my cheek as the thing rubbed its head against me.

"Mieu did a good job taking care of your…your…_Myuu…_"

"They are called contacts, Mieu." Tear corrected the young cheagle. I didn't know what was going on, since Mieu was right on my shoulder, I couldn't exactly turn my head to see what he was doing, but Mieu's ear basically flew up and smacked my chin. Lightly, I might add.

"_Myuu!_ Your contacts~!"

"Thanks, Mieu, you did a good job."

I heard someone come near me, probably Jade, I hadn't heard a single word being uttered by Luke. My palm was opened and something light fell onto my hand. From the feel of it, I had to assume that it was my contacts. Though…how _did_ he remove them without my noticing…? Questions aside, I turned away from the two of them to put the contacts on. I never really liked the idea of putting something in my eye, which was why I usually wear glasses instead. If I remember correctly, people without 20/20 vision couldn't enter the military. Well…maybe this military…

I missed my glasses.

"You were covered in blood when we saw you," I heard Tear said. "Mieu and I did our best to clear the blood from your uniform and skin."

"Thanks, Tear," I thanked her, turning around once I got those contacts in. "You didn't have to. I could have done it myself when I woke up."

Tear's gaze went to a sleeping figure, my gaze followed hers. There was Luke lying on the bed, face up, completely unconscious and looking rather innocent. "Luke is unconscious and the Colonel volunteered to watched over him so I thought I should watch over you just to be fair. The both of you were unconscious for some time so I thought I could wipe away the blood to save you some trouble when you wake up."

"If you were a man, Tear, I would seriously fall for you." I grinned at her. She cast a side glance but returning her gaze at me.

"However..."

I raised a eyebrow. "However...?"

Tear leaned in an whispered into my ear. "There's some blood on your hair."

There was a long pause until the information sank right in. I remembered a large pool of blood, a mixture between humans and monsters. I recalled a large piles of bodies, dead, people who would never see their families again. I saw dismembered parts. And most of all, I saw that eye that was pleading for me to help the dead before I collapsed. I began to fan myself with both of my hands and started to look frantically to the sides to find some water.

"Ew ew ewewewew! Get it off! Get it off!" I cried.

"Calm down, Anh." Tear said to me. But I couldn't calm down, blood was stuck in my hair. If I forgot now then I would have another freak out much later on when I run a hand through my hair.

"I need to get it off, Tear! Badly!"

"Freaking out won't solve anything."

"But I never asked to be here!" I cried out. My arms splayed in front of me. I felt tears welling up. "I never asked to witness a blood bath! I never asked to watch Anise thrown out of a window falling to her doom! I never asked to be a part of anything of this...!" The last few words came out as a whisper or a choke as tears fell down my face. My hands were clutching my head as my legs were brought up to my chest. I wrapped my arms around my legs as I covered my face with my knees and let the tears flow down my face. I felt Tear sitting right beside me and...just sat there.

"Where would you be if the Colonel didn't come to help you?" she asked. "What would happen if you were still left in Daath? Would you make any friends just like you did now? This might not be the best choice you made in your life but, personally, I think it would be better than being left in Daath. At least being with the Colonel gives you more opportunities than when you were stuck in Daath. You need to calm down. Take a deep breath... Good, now let it all out. Do it one more time."

I inhaled and exhaled a few times, allowing me to somewhat calm down. Tear had a point, if I didn't agree to Jade, what would have happened to me? Would I just be some odd girl still in attempt to find her way home? Or would I be damned for the rest of my life, regretting the decision I had made.

Agh, I was thinking way too hard. I guess I chose the easy way out and just follow the storyline of the game. At least it was something I know pretty well.

I rested my chin on my knees. I stared blankly at the ground. "You really are blunt, Tear."

"It's not the first time I heard that," Tear admitted, "but I'm glad that you are feeling better."

"Who's feeling better? From what I can see, she's still being gloomy." Jade.

"Who's gloomy, you cold hearted four-eyed freak? " I snapped at him, in a loud voice. I was giving him my best glare though all I received was the usual: Jade's glasses had a gleam on them and he held an amused smirk.

"Come now, keep that tone up and you'll wake up _Master_ Luke."

I paused as I tried to think of something as a comeback, but the only thing that was keeping me occupied was Jade called Luke 'Master' when he was still unconscious. "Calling him that behind his back is pure evil." I heard Tear sighed behind me.

"_Toue rei zue kuroa ryuo toue zue..."_

"That's a fonic hymn, isn't it?" I asked her, interrupting her. Tear stopped and looked at me. She nodded, slowly.

"My brother used to sing it to me when I was young whenever I was upset," she explained, "so I thought I would sing it now to calm you down."

"I _am_ calm, Tear."

"No, you are not. You can listen to it while we wait for Luke to wake up."

"With that loud shout earlier, I would expect him to be up sometime soon." Jade shrugged, looking at Luke over his shoulder. "But do continue, Tear. I am quite intrigued by your fonic hymns."

Tear sighed before complying. I took a seat beside her when she got past the second verse of the hymn. Hearing them from the game was one thing, but hearing her live was much more beautiful than I imagined. The smoothness of her voice, the way she put her emotions into her singing, the hymn itself. All of that was beautiful. I closed my eyes and just focused on the hymn.

"...Nngh..."

Tear stopped singing immediately and ran to the one that made that noise: Luke. "Luke!"

I ran over there with Mieu still clinging onto my shoulders. Once I was standing next to Tear, Mieu jumped off my shoulders and clutched Luke's sleeve in a worried fashion. Luke's head moved from left to right.

"Get... my head..." he moaned.

"Luke!" Tear repeated his name again. He still didn't opened his eyes as he began to thrash about.

"Get out of my head!" he shouted, more clearly. His arm flew up to the side, clutching his head and knocking Mieu off of the bed. It didn't stop the cheagle from climbing back up in attempt to wake Luke up. Tear grabbed his shoulders, pushing him back down so that he wasn't rolling all over the place. She gave me an order that said to take hold of his wrists and pin them down. Easier said than done. Luke was a lot stronger than I expected, it took nearly everything I had to make sure he didn't hit Tear or Mieu again.

"Wake up, Luke!" Tear shouted, more forcefully. This time, Luke relaxed so Tear and I released our grip on him, our hands hovering slightly above their former places. We didn't know if Luke would thrash like he did before.

After a painstakingly long period of time, Luke slowly opened his eyes. Tear and I immediately relaxed. I heard Tear sighed as Luke sat up, looking a bit dazed. "...Thank goodness. You were moaning in your sleep. It looks like the nightmare has past."

"_Myuu..._ We were all worried!" Mieu looked like he was about to cry and fill an entire fountain.

Luke looked around him and frowned. "Where am I?"

I would be confused as well. The cabin we were in doesn't look as appealing as the cabin rooms the soldiers would use. This one looks like a dirty prison cell. Jade took a step closer to us, the gleam was gone and his eyes were very serious.

"In a cabin, onboard the Tartarus." He answered Luke's question. Luke took another good look around the cabin.

"That's right... Monsters attacked then..." His eyes widened in horror. He leaned forward, clutching his head. He was shivering as he was lost in thought.

That's right. Before all of us were here, Luke had killed someone. He really hated the thought of killing another person. He hated to know that he was going to be hated for killing someone. It must be a large mental shock for him. But what about me? I hadn't killed anyone yet, would I face the same traumatic experience as Luke? Or...

"All right, we need to get out of here and rescue Ion." Jade said, moving on to our next topic.

Tear turned her attention to Jade and nodded. "It looked like they took Ion away..." she explained to Luke in simplest terms.

"From what we overheard the Oracle Knights saying, it sounds like they'll be returning this to the Tartarus." Jade continued. Now I was the one that was confused.

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait, when did this happened?" I asked. Tear lightly nudged my side.

"You were still asleep when they said that."

"And, yet _you_ know about it?"

"I was up way before we were thrown here." Tear told me. "I woke up halfway and they had me walk here alongside with the Colonel."

"Oh."

"Moving on," Jade sighed, pushing his glasses up. "We'll ambush them and save Ion."

"W-Wait!" Luke spoke up. Now it was his turn to interrupt. "If you do that, there will be more fighting!"

Tear's shoulders sagged. "Yes, what about it?"

"We might end up killing people again!" Luke snapped, standing up. There was a pained look in Tear's eyes but she closed them before Luke noticed them. I was pretty sure Jade caught the look in her eyes before she closed them.

"...That can't be helped." She said, finally. She opened her eyes again, this time with her usual defined sharpness. "They'll kill us if we don't kill them."

"Wh-what are you saying?" Luke asked her, enraged. "We're talking about human lives here!"

"Yes. Human life is a valuable thing." Jade nodded. "But if we sit here and do nothing, a war will start and even more people will die."

"'Kill or be killed'." I said, remembering someone or something else had said that. But that was how things work, if you don't kill, you will be killed eventually.

Tear nodded. "Right now, this is our battlefield. There's no good or evil here. Just life and death." Luke just made a sound before she continued. "There's danger even in normal life. One could be attacked by monsters or bandits... Those who lack strength do things like hire mercenaries, band together and travel by coach. Those with the strength to fight, do. Sometimes even children. They do what they must in order to survive."

"That's got nothing to do with me!" Luke splayed his hands in front of him. "I didn't know anything about that, and I didn't come here because I wanted to!"

"Join the party," I muttered, crossing my arms. Tear had cast me a look, it was a look that said 'haven't I heard this before?'.

"Astonishing." Jade spoke up. He pushed his glasses up and the gleam returned. "What kind of environment must one grow up in to be this ignorant of the situation...?"

Luke cast an irritated look towards Jade and opened his mouth to say something nasty. However, Tear spoke up for him. Minus the nasty part. "Ever since the Malkuth attempt to kidnap him, he's been forbidden to leave his manor for his own safety."

"I see... Then I suppose it's natural for him to not know anything about the world..."

"I can't help it!" Luke huffed, looking down at the ground. "I don't have memories of my childhood! I don't know anything!"

"It's my responsibility that all of this happened, so I promise I'm going to get you back home." Tear told him. I believed that was an attempt to reassure him. Luke lifted his gaze to Tear. If I were Luke, I would give her a doubtful look, but that would be me. Tear opened her mouth to say more. "In return, don't get in our way. If you're not willing to fight, you're only going to be a burden."

Luke hesitated before giving her an answer. "...I didn't say I wouldn't fight! I just don't want to kill anyone..."

"It means the same thing," Tear gave him a sharp look. "Right now, fighting means fighting against the human beings who took the Tartarus. If you don't want to kill the enemy, then stay hidden behind us."

"I'm just saying, let's not fight any more than we have to. I don't want to die, either," was Luke's response.

Tear gave him a shocked look. "It's not like I...! It's not like I'm killing people because I want to."

"So, are you going to fight?" Jade asked. "I'll be counting on you as a part of our force."

After a moment's hesitation, Luke answered, "I said, I will."

"Perfect." Jade nodded at the answer. He proceeded to walk towards the gate and did something funky to the glowing bars. No seriously, it was funky. The game showed that he thrown something at the wall across from him and the bars disappeared; the anime showed him doing an arm movement and the bar disappeared. In real life...It was something really funky. There was no levers or keys to unlock this cabin. So one would assume that the bars were made from some fonic device. Jade whipped out his spear and messed around with the edges of the exit.

Next thing I knew, the bars disappeared and Jade was charging towards the...uh...insert object's name here. "By my name as Necromancer, heed my command! Initiate emergency plan, 'Corpse Hunt.'"

The alarms started blaring again, followed by the loud sound of metal doors closing and the lights dimmed. Luke looked around the halls, completely amazed. Jade turned around as we all walked up to him. "It's an emergency shutdown system I set up in advance. It should take them some time to recover."

I faintly heard Luke breathed a 'wow' before Tear asked Jade. "Where should we head from here?"

"The port hatch," Jade answered, pushing his glasses up. "During an emergency shutdown, that's the only one that will open. The Oracle Knights holding Ion should try to enter from there as well."

"But they took away our weapons." Luke pointed out. Well...they took everybody's weapon except Jade's. If they were to take his weapon away, they had to amputate his right arm. As if that was an easy task to accomplish.

"They're probably still nearby." Tear said. "Let's look for them in pairs."

"I call Luke." I said, suddenly. Tear looked at me and shook her head.

"No, you'll come with me. Luke can go with Jade. That way, there is one experienced fighter in both parties. Colonel, you and Luke can search the rooms down that hall." She pointed to the hall behind them. "Anh and I will go the opposite way."

I pouted slightly. At least it's better than me being paired up with Jade. Jade nodded at Tear's suggestion. "Very well then. We should move quickly. As soon as either group finds the weapons, come find the other pair quickly."

We all nodded and departed in our own ways. I followed slightly behind Tear since she had a better sense of direction than I did.

* * *

It didn't take very long. Apparently, Luke and Jade had better luck than Tear and I did. Although, I did snagged a few pouches of Gald, some gels and bottles, and some untested bullets. I don't think Jade would mind when he finds out about it.

During the time Tear and I were searching in a room, Luke slammed the door opened, panting heavily and looking rather grumpy. He was mumbling something along the lines of 'why do I have to carry everyone's weapons and bags?', 'Anh's bag is too heavy', 'lousy four-eyed devil' and 'it would have been better if we searched all together instead of pairs'. Jade, on the other hand, was taking his sweet time...walking. Now who was it that said to move quickly? By the time, Jade entered the room, Luke had already handed, roughly, Tear's staff and our bags to their respective owners. I took that opportunity to take the bullets Jade had given me when he first gave me the rifle into the pocket where the other, new found bullets was being kept. I think I saw Jade eyeing my pouch with a questioning look. Luckily, he decided not to question me now, but I would guess that he would probably do that later.

Once Tear and I got our things organized, Jade was the one who took the lead, said that he would lead us to the room where we will find 'something fun'. Tear and Luke gave him questionable and dubious looks. I would, too, if I didn't know that he was referring to a large box of gunpowder!

* * *

"Ah, here we are." Jade said with a happy business smile on his face as he opened the door to the room. He walked right in and placed both of his hands behind his back. "We'll find our something fun in the back, behind these boxes."

I walked in and looked past him to see a lot of boxes. The room with similar looking boxes in Engeve's storehouse came to mind. The damn back-breaking task of doom.

Tear walked past me. "So we move these boxes, then?" She walked past Jade and pushed at one of the boxes that looked like it was too heavy for someone like Tear. It budged...a little bit. I sighed and went over there to help her but with our combined strength, it didn't do too much either.

Jade and Luke was just standing there watching two girls push a heavy box. I heard Jade clearing his throat, probably getting Luke's attention. "By the way, Luke, I can't say I think much of you forcing women to do the heavy lifting."

"We're fine, Colonel." Tear objected.

No, Tear, we're not fine. It would be better to let Luke do the moving. He got more muscles than the both of us combined.

That, of course, didn't convince Jade. He let out a sigh. "Or do rich aristocratic boys lack any muscles? And here I thought even your brain was made of muscle."

"What did you say?" Luke asked him.

I sighed, still pushing the box. At least we made it halfway in. "Luke, learn to know when a diss is being said to you instead of having someone repeat it just to be dissed again."

"That does it!" Luke huffed. I heard him storm up to Tear and I, shoved the both of us out of the way as we watched Luke take over. He made more progress than Tear and I as he shoved that box. Once he shoved it, he turned around with a frown on his face. He pointed a finger at Jade. "Wait a minute. You're a guy, too! You help out!"

"No, I'd rather not." Jade said, smoothly. "You're younger than I am, after all. At my age, all my joints ache..."

"Using your old age as an excuse..." I mumbled.

Luke tsked and grumbled, "Fine, whatever. Out of the way, I'll do it."

Tear and I pulled back as Luke moved onto the next box. I heard Mieu cheering him on, only to make Luke more frustrated than he already is. Well, at least I'm not doing the pushing and pulling this time.

* * *

There weren't many boxes, so the task was finished in a few minutes. Luke, however, was sitting on the floor grumbling. Moving on, behind those boxes was another set of boxes lined up to keep something behind. That something was just a crate. Jade walked up to it and nodded at the crate.

"Here it is." He said to the group. Luke looked up and gave the crate a really large frown.

"This is your something fun..." Luke gave Jade a weird look. I giggled to myself.

"Basically, you light this thing in the middle of the wall and then watch it go BOOM!" I said, quoting a certain male character from another Tales game. Tear gave me a confused look before she decided to check what's in the crate. She was standing in front of the crate, inspecting every inch of it.

"It looks like you can open it up from the top," she said, after inspecting it. She dug her staff into the crate, lifting the top up. She pulled out a gray bag, and checked its contents. "This is... Colonel, is this gunpowder?"

Luke took many steps back until he hit the wall. "Gunpowder? Why is _that_ here?"

"A group of soldiers have been pilfering supplies to sell on their own," Jade answered, pushing his glasses up. Tear set the bag back into the crate and closed it. "I discovered that they'd been hiding gunpowder here. Though this commotion has made my investigation pointless."

"I see." Tear said, thoughtfully. "So we just ignite this and destroy the wall."

"Are you serious?" Luke asked, astonished. "You sure that's going to be okay?"

"We'll be fine as long as we're not caught in the explosion. Now, let's hurry." Jade answered. I took that opportunity to hide behind Jade as Tear looked at him.

"Do we light it with a fonic arte?" she asked him. Jade shook his head.

"No, we light it with Mieu." Jade looked at the young cheagle standing beside Luke's foot. "You're on, Mieu."

Mieu's ears flew up into the air, happily as he gave Jade a nod. "Yes, sir!"

I covered my ears the moment Mieu said that, there was no way I was going to make myself partially deaf from the blast. Luke had also covered his ears since it was a bit too late to find shelter. During the blast, several pieces of wood flew past us, most of them were swatted away from Jade and Tear's weapons. Once the blast subsided, Luke kicked Mieu to the wall.

"You could've waited half a second!"

"_Myuu..._ I'm sorry, Master." Mieu apologized, his ears drooped.

"No, that was perfect, Mieu." Jade objected to Luke's earlier sentence. "Now if the person behind me doesn't mind removing herself, let us be going."

I didn't realized that I was pushing myself up against Jade's back. Then again, I still heard the blast even with my ears blocked by my hands. That must be the reason why I stuck really close to him. Regardless, I peeled myself off of Jade, letting him and Tear leave through the hole that was made from the explosion. Luke tsked behind me.

"Must be lucky to use your commanding officer as a meat shield."

"I can't help it," I whined. "It's not like I want to watch the explosion."

"Who was it that said 'watch it go boom'?" Luke asked me with a grin on his face. I stuck a tongue out at him before moving on.

"Shut up." I told him. The both of us walked towards the hole where Jade and Tear were waaay ahead of us.

Beyond the hole, there was a nice walkway that gave us access to a ladder right behind a large golden gun. It was rather odd since there was a ladder there, but who was complaining? I should be thanking whoever thought of the idea to put the ladder there even though it was suppose to lead to the gun. Anybody that wanted to handle the huge ass gun over there must have high stamina or something.

We reached to the top where both Luke and I paled at the site of the massacred bodies before us. Although, Luke might be staring at his own nightmare. It was the area where he made his first kill. I swallowed whatever was rising from my throat, it wasn't bile since I would have tasted it, but it felt like my throat was being squeezed by an invisible force. Swallowing had never been a more difficult task than it was now. I focused my attention on Jade, grabbed Luke's hand, and hastily caught up with the two soldiers in front of us.

"This had never happened if..." I heard Luke muttered. He ended up repeating that line a few times to himself. I, on the other hand, kept looking forward.

I can't let the sight of corpses deter me. Right now, Luke was the one that needed someone strong to stand for him. We're both in the same situation but Luke was more sheltered than I was. I should stay strong for him and fret about it later.

God, I was such a wuss.

* * *

"It looks like we made it in time." Jade announced as he looked out of the window from the port hatch. "There they are."

I was sitting on the ground with my knees up to my chest. My rifle was out of its bag and in my hand, my finger on the trigger, ready to pull it any time. Tear stood to my left where she, like Jade, was looking out of the window. Luke stood near the door, clutching Mieu (by the Sorcerer's Ring) in one hand, while the other held onto the hilt of his sword.

Ion...

I could imagine Ion, returning with Legretta, in a very tired state. He was forced to unlock a Daathic seal. It would be a great toll on him being a replica.

"Have they realized the Tartarus did an emergency shutdown?" Luke whispered to Jade.

"I'd be rather surprised if they haven't," was Jade's response. Luke made a face before peering out of a window near him. Jade continued, "More importantly, we can't use fonic artes. There's no time for casting."

Luke tore his eyes away from the window and back at Jade. He set a fist on his waist and another hand in the air. "Hmph. It's not like you can use any decent fonic artes, anyway, with that fon slot seal."

Tear jabbed Luke's sides with her elbow, causing the red-head to give her an upset look. "How can you say things like that? The Colonel's been working hard to undo the fon slot seal."

Working hard? I don't see a sweat drop coming down from his face. I don't see a look where he was 'working hard'. Oh wait, it was Jade.

"I don't mind. It's the truth." Jade said to Tear. He peered out of the window. "Here they come. Everyone, get into position."

The door slowly opened as the stairs descended to the ground, the bars affixing themselves to the stair. Each of us was giving each other eye signals, most of the time, though, we were focusing on the problem at hand. Tear held out what looked like three fingers. I was glad I knew sign signals because the sign that Tear held out was actually read as the number six instead of three. Tear was indicating to the group that there were four others outside of the Tartarus with Ion. Jade nodded and motioned Luke, who burnt the first Oracle Knight that had opened the door.

"Fire! Now!" Luke ordered.

"Fire~!" Mieu shouted, a large flame came out of his mouth and right on the soldier's face. The Oracle Knight flew down the flight of stairs in attempt to douse the flame out. Jade had jumped down from the port hatch to confront Legretta who already readied her weapons. Luke and I ran down the stairs just when Jade 'kindly' asked her and the soldiers to thrown down their weapons. Each of the soldiers complied, dropping their swords when Legretta dropped her weapons.

Luke used Mieu as a weapon and smacked an Oracle Knight down to the ground. I ran to Ion to pull him away from the two soldiers that was guarding him.

"Anh!" Ion cried happily.

"Save it for later, Ion!" I hissed at him. "Let's get away from them as fast as we ca-"

The entrance where the port hatch was burst open and Tear fell. A large monster appeared on the stairs with a girl in black Oracle Knight uniform and pink hair. She hopped off of her monster and onto the stairs, all of that still hugging the weird looking voodoo doll in her arms. Tear was on the ground, struggling to get back up from the fall. Luke was right beside her as two Oracle Knights brandished their weapons at them. Jade, having lost his weapon, retreated. He stayed relatively close to Luke and Tear when a soldier had his blade at Jade. I also had an Oracle Knight soldier with his sword near my neck, while Ion had his two Oracle Knight bodyguards again. Legretta, after she retrieved her guns, shot three warning shots at the ground in front of Jade, Luke and Tear.

"Master, we're surrounded." Mieu squeaked from his place in Luke's hand. The cheagle was still being held by Luke even as he raised his arms in the air.

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Thing," Luke snapped at the cheagle.

Yes, Mieu. Thank you for stating the obvious.

"Arietta! What happened to the Tartarus?" Legretta asked the girl that was descending on the stairs.

"It's still inoperable..." the girl called Arietta replied when she set foot on the ground. She clutched the doll closer to her as she buried her chin into the head of the doll. "I was only able to get this far because my friend tore open the wall."

"Good work. Restrain them and-" Legretta paused and cast a quick glance to the top of the Tartarus. She returned her attention back to us, opening her mouth to continue her order.

Well, she was about to, until a obvious figure jumped down from the Tartarus, landed in front of Legretta making her falter a bit, and continued to move away from her by doing a wicked somersault. Legretta fired two shots at him once she had recovered but they were quickly deflected by his partially unsheathed sword. Legretta tsked, allowing him to make his way to Ion and taking down two Oracle Knights in two quick swipes. The next thing he said was the best of all.

"Enter the amazing Guy!"

I never get tired of that line. Ever.

* * *

**I nearly said Flynn instead of Guy. If anybody hasn't noticed, I quoted Yuri Lowel from Tales of Vesperia. 'Light it in the middle of the monsters and then watch it go boom!'**

**Gotta love Yuri.**

**Anyway, Guuuy~ I'm happy I got to this part. I'm going to have fun in the next chapter.**

**See you all in the next chapter! And please review! The more reviews I get, the more teasing and torture I will do to Guy! :D**


	9. Chapter 8: FonTech Mode

**Urg...things happened. D: 'Nough said. Gotta do something to keep me busy.**

**I checked back at some of my chapters. Holy cow... I fixed some of them. Including that 'thanks' back in the previous chapter.**

**Anyway, I thank my beta, Mieu. She's such a nice gal. :3**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToA.**

**

* * *

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**Chapter 8: Fon-tech Mode **

"Guy!" Luke cried out to the blond. Guy acknowledged his presence with a nod as he took down the soldier next to me. I gave him a smirk.

"Why, thank you, Mister Knight in Shining Armor."

Guy gave me this weird look before continuing on his way. I sighed before grabbing Ion's hand and led him towards Luke and Tear where Guy took down their two guards again. Swift, awesome, courteous, kind, _and_ afraid of women. A fangirl's dream of a man and Guy's worst nightmare. Too bad he wasn't real, he would die of fright from all of the raging and squealing fangirls.

"Ah!" came a female cry of distress. We all turned our attention to the source of the sound. Jade was pointing his spear at Arietta's neck while his other hand held her shoulder firmly. He held a cool gaze at Legretta.

"Arietta!" Legretta directed her attention to Jade and Arietta. She made no move to save Arietta but she kept a cautious stance, and her guns were still pointed in our direction.

"Now that I have your attention," Jade glanced at Legretta. The spear gleamed dangerously near Arietta's neck. "Drop your weapons once more and go back inside of the Tartarus."

After a possibly long consideration, Legretta dropped her weapons again and walked towards the Tartarus. She stood just at the steps of the stairs making a short eye contact with him before walking up the stairs, head held high and proudly. The Oracle Knights also did the same thing and made their way to the port hatch. Jade looked down at Arietta.

"You're next. Take your monster inside." Jade ordered her. She gave Ion a pleading look.

"Fon Master... I... I..."

Ion took a step closer to Arietta but Guy grabbed his arm to keep him from moving any closer to the monster that was next to the stairs. Ion looked back at Guy and then at Arietta. "Please do as he says, Arietta."

Arietta's eyes continued their silent pleading but she eventually nodded. Jade released his grip on her shoulder but he made no attempt on lowering his weapon. Instead, it moved to her back. He walked Arietta towards her monster where she patted the creature and led it up the stairs, with Jade right behind her of course. Guy moved below the stairs where he was keeping an eye on her and her monster, once she was inside the port hatch, Guy quickly punched a few buttons on a pad that was at the side of the Tartarus causing the door to the port hatch to close. Jade jumped down from the top of the stairs and he, too, did something to the pad and the stairs moved back inside of the Tartarus.

"All of the hatches should stay close for a while," Jade announced, walking towards the group but he kept his eye on the port hatch. Luke sighed happily.

"Whew, thank goodness. Good timing, Guy!" Luke lightly punched Guy's shoulder. The fist remained on Guy's shoulder as he grabbed Luke's fist and chuckled.

"I looked all over for you. Never thought you'd turn up in a place like this!" He held a large grin as he returned his own light punch to Luke.

Awww... Talk about brotherly love. Even though they weren't brothers by blood.

"By the way, Ion," Jade spoke up, "What happened to Anise? Anh said that she should be alive, but she also said something about falling to her doom." He turned his attention from the Tartarus to Ion.

"Oh, that?" Ion tilted his head to the side. "We were surrounded by some soldiers and she was trying to protect me when a soldier grabbed me. That's when they threw her out of the Tartarus through the porthole. But I heard soldiers say that they couldn't find the body, so I'm hoping she's all right."

"She should be, she had the letter..." I mumbled.

Jade nodded. "All right, then let's head for Saint Binah. That's our rendezvous point with Anise."

"Saint Binah?" Luke repeated with a confused look. "Where's that?"

"Anh, could you pass me your bag for one second?" Ion asked. I blinked a couple of times before complying. The rifle wasn't in the bag so Ion didn't have to deal with the heaviness. He searched through it and pulled out a square sheet of paper and unfolded it. Turns out it was a map of Auldrant. Ion walked up to Luke to show him the entire map. "St. Binah is right here. Our location should be here, so all we have to do is move southeast to reach the city."

Luke nodded, thoughtfully. "Okay. We just need to make it there, right?"

Ion neatly folded the map as Guy looked at Jade. "What about your troops? They're still inside this ship, right?"

Jade pushed his glasses up and shook his head. "I can't imagine there being any survivors aside. If they left any witnesses, it would lead to war between the Order of Lorelei and Malkuth."

Then why were _we_ still alive?

"...How many people were onboard?" Luke asked, hesitantly.

"This was a top secret mission, so only half the usual number. Around 140 sounds about right." Jade answered, nonchalantly.

"Over a hundred people were killed..." Guy muttered. Luke lowered his head so that his bangs covered the expression he was holding. His fist balled up and shook so one would assume he was distraught by the news.

"Let's get going." Tear suggested. "If we get caught here, the war that follows will claim the lives of more."

Jade nodded. "I agree. We should leave before the Oracle Knights gain complete control of the Tartarus."

Guy nodded as well, he patted Luke's shoulder, looked up at Luke and nodded hesitantly. I gripped my weapon, giving my own nod to the group. Since there was no time to put the bag down and stuff the rifle in it, I was going to have to carry the darn thing by hand. Ah man, this sucked. My hands were going to be bruised, I just know it.

* * *

We ran south of the Tartarus with Jade and Luke in the lead, Ion and I in the middle followed by Tear and Guy. Tear and Guy were constantly looking behind them to see if any soldiers were following us and I was constantly looking at Ion. All of us, aside from Jade, were panting from the run. Ion was taking it the worse. He was doing his best not to look tired but then he suddenly started wheezing and collapsed on the ground. Everyone stopped in place while Tear ran up to Ion, rubbing his back gently. Luke approached him, panting a bit.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked Ion.

"Ion...You used Daathic fonic artes aboard the Tartarus, didn't you?" Jade asked.

Err...I never recalled Ion using any Daathic artes. Unless you counted opening the seal being one of them, but aside from that one, Ion hadn't used any artes _on _the Tartarus itself. Ion was still breathing in deeply to give an answer. Ah well, just go with the flow.

"That thing you did back at the cheagles' place?" Luke asked.

Ion nodded slightly. "I'm sorry. My body just isn't built to use Daathic fonic artes. A fair bit of time had passed so I thought I'd recovered but..."

"Let's rest for a while." Jade suggested. "At this rate, we risk shortening Ion's life."

* * *

Some time had passed and Ion wasn't panting like crazy anymore. We didn't plan to continue any further, in case Ion collapsed a second time. In the meantime, we sat there, weapons already put away and we talked a bit, explaining things to Guy since he was wondering what happened to Luke and why he was in Malkuth territory. He found out that it was hyperresonance that caused Luke and Tear to be blown so far away. He also found out about the cheagles and a talking Mieu. When Mieu said something to Guy, Guy had to (he just had to) take the Sorcerer's Ring off, and heard Mieu say 'mieu' instead of human language. His eyes widened and he began inspect the Sorcerer's Ring with fascination glowing in his eyes. Luke had to practically rip the ring out of Guy's hands so that they could continue where they left off before Guy got side tracked. Ion explained to him that the Sorcerer's Ring was a type of Capacity Core and Guy's happy face turned into a frown.

And...then he got side tracked...again.

"What about that?" Guy pointed to my bag where my rifle was kept. I blinked, pointing to the bag and he chuckled. "I meant your weapon."

"Ohhh, this?" I asked pulling it out. Holy cow, his face looked like that of a kid's face when given free candy. It was as bright as the sun and the grin he gave to me was a grin any girl would fall over and die of happiness.

"Anh...put that thing away." Luke waved a hand in front of me; another hand was up and in front of Guy.

Guy shot Luke a disappointed look. "I just want to ask her a few questions."

"Seriously, Anh. Put. It. Away." Luke repeated, stressing each word as if there was a bear that was about to attack me. I blinked twice before complying.

And then it happened.

The two of them dove for the rifle as soon as I pulled out the bag. Luke was the first one to grab it and he grabbed my bag in the process. I knew Guy faltered because I was female but once my weapon was out of my hands, he moved swiftly so that Luke didn't have enough time to put half of it in the bag. Guy ended up victorious and he wrestled the rifle right out of Luke's hand. Luke tsked and reached for it while Guy was doing his best trying to keep it away from Luke's reach. I sighed, rubbing my temple. There was no way I could get it back now...

"I only want to look at it, Luke...!"

"And I'm telling you, it would be better if you didn't!" Luke grunted, trying to swipe it from below.

"One inspection and a few questions! That's all I ask!" Guy moved back, and Luke missed it by an inch.

"How many times have I heard that back at the manor?" Luke asked, making a swipe from the side. "You kept saying that and then I never hear the end of it _after_ you got what you wanted!"

"Don't be childish, Luke." Guy moved it behind his back

"You're the one that's being childish!" Luke knocked him over and the two of them hit the ground, rifle still in one piece and out of danger.

Jeez...Guy's obsession with fon machines was so bad to the point where he would keep it from being scratched. Now what would really happen if I did put a scratch on it? Most likely I would never hear the end of it from Guy as he cradle it in his arms. Tears flowing down his face as he would stroke the weapon without shame. Okay...the tears and stroking part wouldn't happen but that would be a very funny sight to see.

Back to the struggle... Guy was on his back, one hand clutching the rifle and another on Luke's shoulder trying to push him back. Luke, on the other hand, attempted to reach for it while the other hand swatted away Guy's other hand. Those two acted like two little kids trying to get rights to a toy. And by toy, I meant weapon. It was very cute in a way but...can I get my rifle back...?

As if answering my silent plea, Jade pushed his glasses up, stood up, and walked over to the two of them. He was standing a few feet from Guy's head as he knelt down and cleared his throat.

"Gentlemen," Jade spoke up, with one hand gripped firmly on the rifle. Both Luke and Guy stopped what they were doing and looked up at Jade. "If you don't mind, I would like this back. If this continues, you both will leave my Lieutenant Colonel weaponless. If there was any questions you have in mind, I would be glad to answer all of them, but first, may I have this back?"

"You hear that, Guy?" Luke snorted at him. "Give him the rifle."

Guy shot Luke a look before he released the rifle, giving Jade the rights over it. Jade handed the rifle and its bag back to me and looked back at the two of them. I looked at them as well. Luke got off of Guy as Guy sat up. The blond began laughing.

"Too bad. If you were a little bit taller I would be in trouble back there!" Guy winked at Luke, emphasizing 'little bit' part with a small pinch in the air.

"What's with you and my height?" Luke shot back at Guy. "I _will_ grow taller than you."

"Like I said, good luck~" Guy smacked Luke on his back before swinging an arm over Luke's shoulder and around his neck. He looked at Jade even with Luke in his headlock. "I didn't know Malkuth created things like these." His head flicked towards the rifle in the bag.

"Malkuth doesn't specialize in fon technology unlike Kimlasca, but even we can do a few things here and there to impress Kimlasca." Jade gave Guy a sadistic grin even as Luke jerked himself away from Guy. Guy put a hand under his chin as he pondered about it while Luke took a seat across from me and beside Ion.

"What about the bullets?" Guy asked. His face brightened even more causing Luke and I to groan loudly. Tear facepalmed while Ion smiled.

This was going to take forever...!

* * *

Jade answered all of Guy's questions calmly. To the ones where he doesn't want to answer, he just worked his way around them. Eventually we got back on track where it was Ion's turn to explain to Guy about the Order, how he had escaped from Mohs with Jade and my help, and that he needed to deliver the letter to Kimlasca before war started. When asked why Mohs wanted war, Ion replied that 'it's confidential'. Luke huffed, placing an elbow on his thigh and resting his head on the open palm.

"Whatever his reasons, this war must be avoided. We won't let Mohs interfere." Jade said.

"You've sure gotten yourself wrapped up in a mess here, Luke." Guy gave Luke a smirk. Luke started to protest to Guy and it ended up in friendly bickering. Ion looked back and forth between Guy and Luke with interest.

"Sorry to interrupt but..." Ion spoke up. Guy and Luke stopped what they were doing and looked at Ion. Ion faced Guy and gave him his usual friendly smile. "Who are you?"

Guy blinked a few times before he stood up and flicked a thumb towards his chest. "Oh, right, I haven't introduced myself haven't I? I'm Guy. I'm a servant in Duke Fabre's manor."

Ion stood up, walked up to him and held out his hand. "You already know me as Fon Master Ion."

Guy grinned and shook his hand. Next was Jade who did his whole shpeal about him being the Colonel of Third Division of the Malkuth Imperial Forces. Like Ion, Jade was also holding his hand out. Guy shook his hand as well. And then Tear came up with her introduction and she, too, held out her hand. Instead of getting a handshake like the other two, Guy, with wide eyes, took many steps away from Tear while letting out a loud 'aaah!'. His arms flew up in front of him as a protective barrier between him and her. He left a large trail of dust clouds behind him as everybody stared at him with confused/shocked and befuffled looks. Mine was more amused than either of those looks. I would have guessed Jade's reaction was intrigued since Guy was acting like a child just a few minutes ago. I was in the back of the group; no one can see my reaction except Guy, who was turning his full attention to Tear.

"...what?" Tear asked innocently.

"Guy doesn't like women." Luke explained as he stood up and dusted his pants.

"I'd say it looks more like a phobia." Jade stated his own opinion.

"Gynophobia to be more exact." I nodded with my arms crossed. "The fear of women."

"S-Sorry..." Guy stuttered. "It's nothing personal... It's just..."

"If it helps you, you don't have to think of me as a woman." Tear told him. She took a step closer to him, forcing him to take a step back. She paused a bit before taking another step and Guy took another step back. I giggled.

"It's no use, Tear. He's completely terrified by anybody's that's female." I giggled again as I showed my point. I walked up to him while he was completely distracted by Tear, who was still advancing on him, and poked him on the arm. Guy looked over at me and then...

"Aaaahh!" Guy screamed as he ran behind Luke for cover. He was eyeing the two of us, completely terrified. His shaking did all the explaining.

Tear sighed, placing a palm to her forehead as I walked up to her side. "...Fine. I'll be sure to keep my distance. Will that take care of it?"

Guy nodded and turned his attention towards me. I held up my hands, innocently.

"Okay, I'll do the same. Happy?" Obviously, I was so not going to keep my distance. A fangirl gotta do what a fangirl loves. If teasing was a must then teasing it will be! I felt like cackling internally.

"Sorry..." Guy apologized, relaxing.

"An interesting servant you have there, Luke," Jade commented. He turned to Guy. "If you serve House Fabre, you must be from Kimlasca. Did you come looking for Luke?"

Guy nodded, he was back to his usual self. "Yes, under orders from Duke Fabre. We knew he'd disappeared into Malkuth territory. I went by land from Chesedonia, while Dorian General Grants crossed the sea and started searching from Kaitzur."

Tear and Luke gave shocked looks at Guy. Luke's expression was more of a mix of shock and happiness though.

"Master Van's looking for me, too?" he asked, excitedly.

"...My brother is here?" Tear murmured, her gaze was lowered to the ground as she pondered to herself.

"Your brother?" Guy's brow furrowed. "You mean..."

He was interrupted by the sound of metal shoes. Everybody was tense as a handful of Oracle Knights approached us, and by handful I meant at least ten, with their weapons drawn and ready for a fight. Guy and Tear ran to the front of the group to confront the soldiers.

"Oh dear," Jade sighed as he whipped out his spear. "It looks like we've run out of time to chat. Anh, bring Ion and Mieu to safety."

"No arguments there." I turned around and grabbed Ion's wrist and pulled him into the nearby forest. Mieu was already clinging onto Ion's staff so I wasn't worried about grabbing the cheagle. We were just hiding behind a few trees, giving us a good view of the battle. Well...we would have had a good view if a certain Malkuth Colonel wasn't blocking the view with his big ass body.

Nice ass though...

Wait, what? What the hell was I thinking? I slapped my cheeks with both of my hands while Ion gave me a concerned look.

"Is something wrong, Anh?" he asked me.

"Don't mind me," I told him as I pulled my bag over my head and took out my rifle. I loaded a bullet into the rifle as I scanned through the battle. Guy and Tear were taking down most of the soldiers while Jade was taking down whichever ones were attempting to enter the forest where we were. Luke...was trying to avoid contact as much as possible. Not that I blame him or anything. I looked through my scope as I looked for a good opening to shoot. I closed my finger around the trigger, but for some reason I wasn't able to pull it. Okay, it was now or never. I had to deal with this sometime. It had to be now, it just had to be-

"Anh!" Ion shouted, pulling me away from my train of thought. I felt a pull on my rifle and my finger squeezed the trigger instinctively. The sound of the rifle echoed through the trees and I swore I heard a thump not too long after that sound. It wasn't until after the sound of a fired rifle dulled that I realized something had happened.

In front of me was an Oracle Knight, slouching against a tree as he gasped for air. Blood was oozing from the damaged neck, staining his grey uniform. He was having difficulty breathing and it didn't help him when he spat out blood. The partially shattered helmet revealed his bloodied mouth and the sound of his rasp was extremely loud. My gaze lowered onto my rifle and my eyes widened in horror. On my rifle was Ion's hand, who was also shocked. His gaze was on neither the rifle nor the soldier. He was staring down at the ground with wide eyes.

"I-I'm sorry," he apologized, he released his hand from the rifle. I didn't know who he was apologizing to. "He just... I..."

Then it hit me, Ion was trying to warn me about the soldier that was coming. The others must have missed this one since he probably was concealed in the forest hoping that I would draw Ion into it. I was too concentrated in the battle outside of the forest that I wasn't able to see him. Ion pulled on my rifle and I pulled the trigger by accident. Oh God, I just...

"As long as you...the Fon Master..." the soldier wheezed as he coughed up some more blood. "We will..."

And then he died. Just like that. His eyes glazed and his head fell lifelessly to the side. The blood continued to ooze out of his wound, creating a large pool around his lower body. Blood had also trickled down his mouth, staining his teeth and his chin and adding a darker shade to the already stained uniform. A firm grip grabbed my shoulder and I screamed, struggling in that person's grip until they turned me around and gripped my other shoulder so that I was face to face with the person. I stared at crimson eyes that were staring at me steadily.

"J-Jade?" I sputtered before tears welled up in my eyes. "Oh God, I just... It was an accident... I didn't mean to-"

I clung onto him, sobbing uncontrollably on his chest. He let me cry for a brief second before he pulled me away from him when someone else screamed.

"Now is not the time for tears," Jade said, before he turned around and returned to the battlefield. Ion patted me on the shoulder and he led me outside just when Tear fell to the ground with a pained look on her face. Luke was also on the ground on his bottom as he stared at Tear with a startled look. Blood came out of Tear's arm where she was gripping with her other one.

"T-Tear...I-I..." Luke started to say but he was unable to finish his sentence. He received a faint 'idiot' from Tear who then fell unconscious. Luke reached for her only to be pulled back by Jade.

"This is no time for hesitating. Anh, bring me the bandages in your bag!" Jade ordered, moving Tear's hand away from her wound. I flinched a bit before dropping my rifle and frantically searching through my bag for the bandages. I was a bit unsuccessful since my mind was in a distorted moment but with Ion's help I was able to find it.

* * *

"She should be fine for now," Jade said as he laid Tear on a sheet that was given to him by Guy. "It appears that we have to make camp for tonight. Guy-" Guy's head flicked up and he moved his hand away from Luke's shoulder. It appeared that he gave Luke a few words of encouragement or something to that effect. "-we will need firewood for tonight."

Guy nodded, solemnly. He patted Luke's shoulder a couple of times before he head back up the path where we faced the soldiers. Jade muttered something to Ion while I sat beside Tear's sleeping figure with my knees to my chest. I rested my forehead on my knees as I inhaled deeply.

The scent of blood and iron invaded my nose. My nose crinkled before I removed my head away from my knees. The smell was disgusting, it nearly made me want to hurl. The scent of blood reminded me of what had just happened earlier.

I murdered someone. Tears welled up in my eyes as my nose began running. I quickly blinked them away but they kept returning and eventually fell down from my face. Why was it always the case where tears fall whenever someone was near me and never when I was alone? God, I hated that part of me.

"_Myuu..._Anh's crying..."

"Shut up, Mieu." I told him.

"Anh?" another voice spoke up. I looked up to see Ion looking a bit sad and I forced myself to look away while wiping my tears away. Another wave of tears came up and I started hating myself even more. Seriously, what the fuck was wrong with me?

A hand patted my shoulder and I flinched.

"Anh, about the soldier..." Ion spoke up.

"Ion, don't." I sobbed. "I don't want to talk about it."

"But please understand..."

"No! I don't want to!" I cried out. "I just killed someone, Ion! It wasn't on purpose either! I never wanted to kill him in the first place!"

"Please keep it down, you'll wake up Tear..." Ion pleaded, he was gesturing me to keep it down with his hand. "Besides, it wasn't your fault. It was mine."

"Oh, stop being the saint, Ion." I told him. "I was the one that pulled the trigger, not you. I killed him, okay? There's nothing that could change that. Even if it was an accident, I fucking murdered him. I just...killed him. Just like that. What difference does it make?"

"He probably killed more people than you did..." Ion pointed out. "And...by killing him, you prevented him from killing more."

"But that means _I_ had to kill more people."

Ion opened his mouth to say something but he closed it and looked away. I sighed, hoarsely, and stood up. "Sorry, I just want to sit somewhere by myself before I bitch at someone again."

Without giving him a chance to respond, I strode away from the campsite. I found myself a nice spot and just plopped my butt on the soft grass. I sat there in my usual position, with my knees to my chest and my arms were wrapped around them as I stared blankly at the ground. I just thought to myself. Ion was right, if I hadn't killed that soldier, what would had happened to those that would be killed if he was alive?

What was the point?

I had to kill more than just that one person. The fact that I just killed him and knowing that I had to kill more made my stomach churned. The smell of blood came back as vomit rose up my throat. I had to force myself to swallow it, forcing myself to erase the images. It didn't help. The bloodied face, the smell, his dying breath. All of it just came back. What would Tear say at this moment if she saw me in this state?

Breathe in and out?

Damn. That would be something she would say... She sucked at cheering people up. She was good at pointing out faults and making people feel guilty and then let them see the light _all_ at the same time. Why does she have to be unconscious at a time like this? Now I was stuck with three hot men, one of them being a pure sadist, another afraid of women and the last was a pure asshole with long hair, and a male loli. Great. Just great.

While I was pondering to myself, a pair of footsteps came up to me but I didn't bother looking at who it was. Whoever it was, stood there for a brief second before they set something down and sat beside me. I looked to the side to see that it was Guy, and...he was keeping his distance from me. He sat there with one leg stretched out in front of him and another knee up, one hand was hanging from that leg while the other one was on the ground, supporting him as he leaned back.

Neither of us spoke to each other until he decided to start it. "So, you're Anh?"

I didn't uttered a single word to him. Instead, I just nodded, returning my attention to the ground in front of me.

"I heard from Ion that you're Jade's second-in-command," he continued. "Though, from his side of the story, he said that it was just a title by name. I guess you don't have much experience, do you?"

Again, I nodded.

"You seemed a bit down, would you like to talk about it?"

I shook my head this time. Someone should take the hint that I would like to be alone. Damn it, Ion! Did you set him up for this?

Guy sighed. "Well, this isn't going anywhere..."

I heard him put something onto the ground and pushed it near me. I looked over to the side to see a metal box. Curiosity took over me, and I reached over to it to see what it was. I turned it over a few times, only seeing that it was some metal cube-like object.

"What is this?" I asked, after looking at it for too long.

Guy chuckled, his eyes immediately lit up and I regretted asking that question. "It's called a Wing Pack. It's a fon technology device that allows you to keep your items in it. It's light, it stores a lot of stuff inside, including Gald, and it's an ideal travelling kit if someone is travelling for a long distance by themselves. It's pretty convenient for any travelers since it stores any types of objects the user wants to put it in. The object can be large or small and this little guy can still pack some more. Here, pass it to me so that I can show you how it works."

Great. No stopping him now. He was already holding out his hand, gesturing that I should give him the fon tech. I passed it over to him, dropping it in his hand so that we don't make contact with each other and have Guy freaking out. He pushed a button and the machine split opened, a couple parts of it flew in the air and a blue-green screen appeared in the middle of the two parts but just above the main part that was in Guy's hand.

"You see this?" He pointed to the screen. "This shows you what part of the Wing Pack you are looking at. This sorts items into different categories like weapons, armors, items in general, food ingredients, and many more. All you have to do is push the sides that are floating to view each category. For example, the default category is items whenever you open the Wing Pack. That carries gels, bottles, and you get the point. So, to put an item in..." He paused for a bit and looked around. He pulled out my bag and searched through it, pulling out a couple of gels and bottles. "Ah, these will do. So you just hold it in front of the fon tech, just like what I'm doing with this Apple Gel, and...There you go! It's gone! It's in the Wing Pack now. If you noticed, the number of Apple Gels went up by one since I just put one into the Wing Pack. But you should know that-"

"Guy..." I spoke up. Guy stopped what he was doing and he stared at me. "I know you're trying to cheer me up but..."

"Eh? Oh, uh, right. Sorry, I got carried away." Guy laughed a bit with one hand behind his head. "Feeling any better?"

I paused to think about it. Then I tapped his arm, which caused him to drop the Wing Pack and increase the distance between us. I laughed. "Now I'm feeling much better!"

"Y-y-y-you're welcome...!" Came his reply. The last bit of his sentence sounded really high pitched. I laughed again and picked up the Wing Pack.

"So how do you take something out?" I asked him, loudly. Hopefully he heard me.

He did. And he was back into Fon-Tech Mode. Fear forgotten.

* * *

Guy and I returned to the group after a long session. When Guy talked about fon technology, he just had to make sure that he covered every single detail and I literally meant every single detail. An example would be when the Wing Pack was crushed or tossed into a body of water. He had to show that to me by doing those two things. It turned out that the Wing Pack was virtually indestructible. Be it water, lava, heavy objects or just plain goofing around, it won't be broken nor would the supplies be damaged. How did they made it like that, I had absolutely no idea. I sighed as I took in all of the information, Guy was happily in his own little world as he explained it all to me.

Tear was still resting in the makeshift bed except now, she had a blanket over her. Both of her gloves were taken off and one of her arm was bandaged around the bicep. Luke was sitting beside her, keeping an eye on her but his eyes said that they were in a world of his own. Ion was also with Luke and Tear while Jade was nowhere to be found. Ion saw us return to the group and his eyes brightened. He stood up and walked over to us.

"How are you feeling, Anh?" he asked. I rubbed my temple.

"Feels like I had just returned from a long seminar in which the professor won't just shut up." I answered. I flicked a thumb over to Guy. "This guy knows how to talk but thanks to him, I'm feeling a lot better."

"Thank you, Guy, for going after Anh," Ion thanked Guy. I laughed.

"Yeah, thanks, Guy!" I patted his arm in which he immediately fled behind Ion. The Wing Pack that was in his hand flew up into the air and right into Ion's hands. Ion blinked at the object as Guy uncontrollably shook behind him.

"S-sure thing...!" Guy managed to utter.

I turned towards Ion. "And thanks Ion. You tried cheering me up even though I was being a total bitch...ish...back there. I'm also sorry."

"I'm just happy that you're feeling much better than you were before." Ion said. "Anyway, I think it's time for you to keep an eye on Tear, Guy," Ion changed the subject with a nervous smile. "Luke looks like he needed a break like Anh."

Guy rested a hand underneath his chin. "Is he still being upset about that? I think I should have a word with him again."

"Actually, would you both mind if I did the talking instead?" I volunteered myself. I hadn't had a chance to talk to Luke ever since he agreed to Jade's offer to talk to his uncle. I think the two of us needed some bonding time. After all, Guy doesn't understand how Luke felt when he did his first kill. Mine was almost the same as Luke's so I think we could manage a decent conversation.

...Then again...I was a horrible person to chose to cheer someone up...

"I think that's a good idea," Ion nodded. "That is, if you don't mind, Guy."

"Of course not."

"Thanks guys."

* * *

Guy walked up to Luke and said that he was taking over Luke's post. Luke just nodded and he walked off toward the area where we encountered the Oracle Knights. I followed him, of course. He seemed to had taken notice my presence but he decided to ignore it. I frowned slightly and walked up to his side. In front of us used to be where corpses lay. Now it was just a splotches of blood all over the place. Someone had taken the bodies away. My money would be on Jade...

"Mind if I sulk with you?" I asked him.

"Who said I was sulking?" Luke huffed.

"Your face did." I answered, pointing to his face. He smacked my hand away in an irritated fashion.

"Would you just leave me alone?" he snapped at me. "I don't need you to be my babysitter."

"And I don't want to be a babysitter. I thought that was Guy's job. Speaking of Guy..." I placed a finger on my cheek. "He sure loves Fon machines."

"Yeah, he wouldn't stop talking if someone mentioned it to him."

"Yeah..." I agreed, crossing my arms and tilting my head to the side. "Him and his Fon-Tech Mode..."

"His what?" Luke raised an eyebrow at me.

"Nothing~!" I said in a childish tone. Luke recoiled and looked away.

"Tch. Whatever. What do you want anyway? Are you here to make fun of me?"

"I don't see a reason to make fun of you," I admitted with a shrug. "After all, everybody has their reasons to sulk around."

"I said I'm not sulking!"

"You are too!" I argued back at him. "I sulked, too, before Guy came along and cheered me up. Things just happened and...I never really killed anybody until today."

"Hmph, you liar."

"No seriously, Luke." I walked in front of him so that he was staring at me. I placed both of my hands on my hips as I gave him my upset expression. "I thought you knew when I told you about my false title. I never actually killed a person. Sure I dissected a crayfish, a cow heart and its eyeball, sheep's eyeball, dogfish and a pig. But I never really killed anything besides bugs up until now. And...it terrifies me to know that I will kill more than that person back then."

"So? Go complain to Jade or someone. Just leave me alone."

"Listen, you!" I shouted, stomping my feet. "I'm not here to complain! I just wanted to... Just wanted to..." I felt myself crying again. I tried to wipe away my tears as I turned around. "Oh great. Why do I always feel like crying in front of someone and not by myself?"

"H-Hey...!"

"Oh my, making a girl cry? How disheartening of you, Luke." A new voice spoke up. I looked up to see Jade approaching us from the forest.

"It's not like I was the one that made her cry!" Luke protested.

"Gah! You're so mean Jade!" I cried out. "I bet you were eavesdropping the entire time!"

"My apologies," Jade said, "I just couldn't help it. You both seemed to enjoy each other's company that I find it hard to interrupt you two at that moment."

"Arrgh!" I balled a fist into my hair and stormed back to the campsite. I faintly heard Jade saying 'why so serious?' to Luke as they started a new conversation. Stupid Jade. Stupid Luke. That stupid tsundere red-headed idiot!

* * *

Tear woke up by sundown. She was a little bit dazed by the fact that she rested until sundown. Nevertheless, she healed her wound and everybody's wounds if we had any. Soon we all agreed to move on to St. Binah in the morning since monsters might attack around this time. So we had dinner, made by Guy surprisingly enough. He even had me help him by getting the ingredients from the Wing Pack in which Luke sighed saying 'there he goes again...'

There was a bit more stuff in the Wing Pack than I thought there would be. An entire kitchen was in this tiny thing. Knives, pots, ladles, spoons, forks, heck, there's even dishes and dish soap and cloths to clean the dishes! What the hell? Anybody could just live in the wilderness with just a Wing Pack and money. Yeesh, talk about being prepared...and I thought _I _was prepared for any situation. Guy certainly proved me wrong. There was three blankets, pillows and a large sheet. Guy had brought enough for him, Luke and probably Tear. Being courteous, he let Tear, Ion and I to take the makeshift beds while the other gents sleep on the ground much to Luke's dismay.

After dinner, Tear volunteered to wash the dishes using the excuse of her wanting to do something after she had slept for the entire day. She left with the Wing Pack as everybody else sat around the fire. I, on the other hand, decided to follow her. Tear found out halfway, but she didn't mind the company. We made it to a small stream not too long after. I sat there and watched her wash the dishes in the stream.

"I heard from Ion..." she said, her eyes still on the dishes. She set aside the washed dishes and moved onto the utensils. "It must be hard on you."

I nodded slowly. "It just happened and..."

"I understand, but now is not the time to hesitate." Tear looked up from her dishes and she stared at the bushes in front of us. "Any moments of hesitation might mean your death. Even though you are a soldier by name, you have to stay strong."

"How can you do that?" I asked her. "I mean...you're a soldier and you just kept killing."

"I have my reasons." Was Tear's answer. She placed the still damp dishes and utensils into the Wing Pack and stood up. "I'm heading back to camp. Are you coming?"

I shook my head. "Tell them I'll come back later. Thanks Tear. If I needed a shoulder to cry on, I'll come to you."

"And don't expect me to give you comfort when that time comes." Tear gave me a small smile before she turned around and returned. I waited for a few seconds before glancing at the stream. The water was flowing smoothly and the sound was soothing. But there was one thing that was still stuck on my mind.

Blood.

I hastily scooped up a handful of water and threw it onto my face. My face felt hot, the cold water did little to cool it down. I gasped at the cold feeling and rolled up my sleeves, scooping another handful of water, this time rinsing out the blood stuck on my hair. I rubbed my hair between my palms trying to wash out as much blood as I could. I even dumped my entire head into the stream, pulling it out and running my hand through my hair to find out if more blood was found somewhere there. Hot tears trailed salty paths down my face. I was glad that there was no one here and water was still dripping down my face.

"What are you doing?" a male voice asked me. I turned around to see Luke there with a lantern in his hand. The light from the lantern danced in those wide emerald green eyes.

"What does it look like?" I returned his question. I sniffed and wiped the moisture on my face. "I'm washing the blood out." I continued rubbing my hair between my palms. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"Tear came back and said that you were still at the stream so..."

I raised an eyebrow when he said that. "Okaaay..."

Luke looked away and tsked. "Look, I just want to ask you a question."

"Fire." I told him as I twisted my hair, letting the drops of water fall back into the stream.

"What was that Fon-Tech Mode you mentioned earlier?"

"Oh...uh..." I paused, trying to explain that mode in the simplest terms. "I just happened to know someone who absolutely loves ruins. Every time she saw ruins, she has this thing where she goes crazy about the ruins to a point where she didn't sound like herself. So...everybody called it Ruin Mode. Guy was almost like her except with Fon Technology so...Fon Technology Mode! Fon Tech Mode for short."

Luke looked to the side trying to say something to that. It wasn't my best explanation but...describing Raine meant that I had to show everybody her. Er...Now how would that work? Bringing someone from Symphonia to Abyss? I don't think so. Hell had to freeze over before that happened.

There was times where I wished some people would just be like Lloyd. He doesn't get it but he'll just go along with it.

"Look...just go with it..." I sighed, rubbing my temple.

"How did it felt when you killed someone?"

I paused, shocked by the sudden question. That was unexpected. I looked around the area, nervously as I tried to find the answer to that question. How did it felt when I saw the blood coming from his face and neck? When his eyes fell on me with a shocked look? When his gaze just glazed with bliss? When death embraced him allowing his suffering to end?

"It felt horrible and I was scared." I answered, finally. My throat felt tight, almost as if something is crushing it. "Scared shitless. Paralyzed with fear. I thought that I could do it, but when I accidently pulled that trigger, I immediately regretted it. But...at the same time, I felt relieved that I was alive and not in his place. Why do you want to know?"

Luke sat down, beside the stream. He set the lantern between us and I, too, sat down. "I don't get it how Tear and Jade can just kill without regretting it. I don't get how any of them kill without remorse or mercy."

"They had more experience than we do." I told him, my palms where balled into a fist on my lap. "They do what they have to. And I..." I opened my palm and stared down at them. "...I'm not exactly sure what am I suppose to do."

"And I think it would be better if you didn't act like them." Luke snorted. "If you want to cry, then cry. And if you have to kill, then kill. I don't want to be responsible for dragging your corpse to your family."

"I think that would be Jade's job." I sighed. As if he was ever going to find my family in the first place.

"Look, all I'm saying is that...don't get yourself killed."

"I'll try, Luke, I'll try." I gave him a fake smirk. And then I looked away. "I'll have to since I'm a soldier. I agreed to become Jade's aide of my own free will. I accepted this uniform and I have to be a soldier. If I have to be a soldier then I will kill. I'll do what I have to to live."

Luke snorted again. "Like someone like you could ever be a soldier. You're better off hiding in a mansion or something."

"You're so mean, Luke," I lightly punched his arm. Luke gave me a droll look.

"You see? That didn't even feel like a punch. I bet Ion could punch harder than you."

"Ha ha, I'm laughing so hard that I'm falling over to my side." I fell to the ground, still faking it. My head turned to the side so that Luke couldn't see my face. Wait a second...What was that little lump there? Must be knots. "My sides are hurting so much that-Oh my God, it's a spider!" I shot right up, smacking the spider from my hair and grabbed Luke's arm, knocking over the lantern. The lantern fell into the stream with a _thunk!_ and the spider fell harmlessly to the ground near my feet.

"Spider? Where?" shouted a new voice. Guy appeared out of nowhere with one hand flicking out his sword and his other hand holding out another lantern. He was scanning the area as if there was a monster present and instead of that I was pointing to my calves. An arachnid with a white body and black stripes about the size of a person's thumbnail was making its way from the ground and up my boots.

"There there! It's crawling up my leg...!" I swatted the arachnid from my leg and back onto the ground. I gripped Luke's arm even harder as Guy bend down to get a good look at the spider. "Someone kill it before it crawls on me again!"

"Okay, it's dead now..." Guy declared with a sigh as he rubbed his foot in one spot. "And here I was, getting all worked up about a monster..."

"I was, too..." Luke murmured. He was eyeing me and I made a small whimper. "Looks like someone's afraid of spiders."

"Shut up!"

"What's with all this loud noise?" Tear asked, making her presence known. Like Guy, she was holding up her own lantern. Behind her was Jade and Ion who seemed to had tagged along with her. Oh bloody hell, the entire party was here now.

Jade pushed his glasses up. "It seems that Luke and Anh were having some private time with each other, we should leave so that they can continue what they were doing earlier."

"What are you talking about, Jade? We were just talking!" Luke protested.

"Of course you were."

"Stop making it sound like it was a bad thing!"

"Who's making it sound like that?"

"You are!"

"Why would I say something like that? Dear me, Luke, you are just interpreting things wrong."

"I give up..." Luke declared with a sigh. "I'm going to sleep before another word comes out of his mouth."

"Good night, Luke." Jade said as Luke walked off to the campsite. Luke stopped for a brief second, shooting dagger-like glares in Jade's direction and then left. Jade, who was completely unfazed by the glares, gestured to Ion and he and Ion headed towards the campsite as well. Guy chuckled.

"Something tells me this journey isn't going to be very dull."

Tell me about it...

* * *

Nighttime came. Everyone retired except for Guy and Jade who was taking turns watching the campsite. A hand shook me from my sleep. I was half-asleep when I opened one eye to see that it was still dark and closed my eye again. Something pulled my blanket away from my body and cold air replaced the warm air. I shivered as I sat up in search of my blanket.

"Wha...What time is it...?" I yawned as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes.

"One hour before sunrise," came my answer. I sighed irritably at the person who said that. He always, _always_ ruined my day somehow.

"Lemme go back to sleep, Jade," I yawned again, settling back into my makeshift bed without the blanket. "I'm tired. Do you realize how early it is? Wake me up when we're about to leave..."

Of course, he didn't let me continuing sleeping. He suddenly stripped me of my pillow and my head fell onto the hard ground. Now I was wide-awake, and very irritated.

"He-Mmph!" His hand covered my mouth to prevent me from saying anything loud.

"I would keep my tone down, if I were you." He said to me. He removed his hand from my mouth and handed me my bag. "Now that you are awake, we should begin practice."

"Practice? Practice for what?" I asked, getting up and running after him. Jade turned around and gave me a grin. There was no light to give a gleam on those lenses of his but there was enough shadow to cover the expression on his eyes.

"Your training of course. Didn't you say 'you do what you have to to live'?"

Oh...Bloody hell. This would go badly, this would go very badly.

* * *

**Wow...Too much talking with the party. Ah well. Talking done! Abuse...in the next chapter! XD**

**Up next: To St. Binah! ...Or not...**

**And there was a lot of ToS references. Hooray for those! :D**

**On another note! I finished Tales of Innocence! Now onto my next distraction... *plays Tales of Hearts* T_T I want my lappy back...There's a picture of Spada that's screaming at me to lineart him and upload him.**

**Please review and see you all in the next chapter!**


	10. Chapter 9: To St Binah! Or not

**Well...onto the storyline where the party goes to St. Binah. But first...! The abuse begins!**

**CrystalYumemi: Never played ToL so I wasn't aware of that. Good to know that there are other people in other games with an obsession.**

**Miho: Abuse. End of story. XD**

**BEWARE! THE NEXT THING IS **_**NOT**_** FOR THE EYES OF PEOPLE UNDER THE AGE OF 13. Nah, I'm kidding. This is a rated T for a reason. :D If you are under 13, what the hell are you doing on FFN?**

**Lastly I thank my beta, Mieu. :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToA.**

**

* * *

****Chapter 9: To St Binah! ...Or not... **

I gasped as Jade's hands pushed my shoulders down. The pain down there began to burn even hotter. "S...Stop..."

"I beg to differ," Jade declined, he was whispering in my ear sending shivers down my spine. "You were pretty sloppy in the beginning so this is the perfect place to start."

Another push and I gasped once more. My hands balled into fists, grabbing a handful of grass and dirt in my hand. I lowered my head as another wave of pain came up. This time it was more intense and I threw my head back with another gasp. "It...hurts..."

"Again, I beg to differ. You're almost there, I can tell." Again, another push. I grit my teeth together to try and hold out as much as I could. But then he spoke up. "Besides, haven't you heard? Women had higher pain tolerance then men. I'm sure you can do it just fine."

"At least let-ow-me get a break..."

"Like I said earlier, you can do it just fine." Jade repeated. I grit my teeth and just bore it, but another wave of pain hit me and I just couldn't handle it.

"Hurts..." Then...I just snapped. I swatted both of his hands away in a very irritated fashion. "Dammit! I said it hurts! Can we stop making me do the damn splits now? God, I would be crippled by the time the sun rises."

When he said practicing, I thought we'd be doing some mock fight so that my reactions were going to be better. But noooo...! We had to do self-defense first. My main idea of self-defense was throwing my hands in front of squeal, hoping that someone would come and save me. That didn't sound very appealing to Jade so he started with that...only to find out that my muscles were in pain from the earlier run. So instead of self-defense, we started stretching. And by stretching, he meant putting me in pain by doing the splits.

Worse. Day. Ever.

I probably say that very often but as of today, today was the worse day ever.

Jade sighed as he backed up. He pushed his glasses up. "Being a soldier means you have to be more flexible. Since you lack that, the splits were the perfect way to start off."

"Did you realize how long we have been going through this?" I asked, rubbing my back. "I swear it was over an hour."

"Actually, it was just half an hour." Jade quickly corrected me. "Also, Guy. How long are you planning to hide behind those trees?"

There was no answer, causing Jade to sigh and pull out his spear. "Guy, you have five seconds to come out before I use Sonic Spear. And don't think about fleeing at this moment."

"Okay, okay, okay!" The voice responded in fear before Jade even started counting. A rustle from the bushes and Guy came out with a very, very disturbed look on his face. His hands were held up and beside his hands as if he was caught red-handed. Well...he just eavesdropped on us, if he hadn't seen what we were doing; I believe he was assuming the worse. Guy was eyeing the spear. "For the love of Yulia, Jade, put the spear away before you stab someone with it."

Jade hadn't complied to put the spear away. Instead, he raised it, just over his shoulder as if he was intending to throw it. Guy and I raised our eyebrows as we tried to figure out what the hell Jade was up to.

"Uh...Jade...?" Guy cast a look at me to see if I knew what he was up to. I just shrugged back to him with a surprised look on my face.

Again, the calm look. Jade took a step back causing Guy's eye to widen in horror. "Jade...What are you up to...?"

Jade threw the spear with a shout of 'Sonic Spear', Guy immediately ducked, with his hands over his head making some sort of distorted noise. Right behind Guy was a large bee, ready to attack him. Well...It _was _about to attack Guy before he ducked. It met the end of Jade's spear instead. The spear impaled the poor bee and blue-green blood burst from the opened wound as both the bee and the spear continued soaring through the air and landed into a tree with a loud _thunk!_

Guy looked over his shoulder to see the spear and the dead bee. He let out a loud sigh. "Good grief, Jade. A little warning couldn't have killed you."

"Now why would I do that?" Jade asked, pushing his glasses up. "The look on your face was rather amusing, I just had to keep the charade up."

"You just had to?" Guy and I asked in unison. We were giving Jade our dubious looks while Jade gave Guy a sadistic smile.

"I knew you could dodge it anyway, Guy, so I wasn't worried at all."

The sadistic line. Not that Jade was worried but he just worries everybody around him...

"Aside from that, did you enjoy eavesdropping?" Jade asked as he gave Guy a fascinated look. Guy's face went from startled to disturbed and he looked away.

"Uh...er...What were you guys doing?"

"Making me do the splits," I answered, shooting Jade a glare. Thanks to him, Guy probably thought we were secretly having 'fun' while most of the group was asleep. Jade ignored my glare, of course. In fact, he wasn't fazed to any of my angry stares and glares.

"Rather, I was giving her some practice." Jade's smile spread even further and everybody that looked at him would just know he was up to something. "Speaking of practice. Guy, you came just in time."

Guy blinked twice, confused. "I did?"

"Yes, would you mind being Anh's sparring partner for now?"

"Why don't you do it, Jade?" Guy's brow furrowed.

"Oh, I wish I could but these joints of mine, they ache." Jade said with a droll look on his face. I had to do a facepalm at the side after hearing his obvious excuse. "Besides, you are quite young, Guy. A mock battle couldn't hurt, would it?"

And there was one thing about Guy: he never said no. Anybody would ask him to do something and he would, sometimes reluctantly, do it. Except when it came down to touching girls, he wouldn't utter a no, but a 'yes' wouldn't be his answer either. An 'aaah' and fleeing said everything, however. Aside from that request, almost _anybody _could take advantage over Guy. Guy looked between the two of us and sighed.

"Oh, all right..." he muttered, drawing his sword. "This is a mock battle right? I don't have to go all out on her then."

"It wouldn't hurt if you did, Guy." Jade chuckled.

"Are you trying to get me wounded?" I asked with a shocked look. There was no way I could handle Guy at full force. He would cut me up into pieces before I could even pull the trigger. Speaking of trigger, I pulled my rifle out of my bag and placed a bullet into it. I guessed this was a mock battle of speed. Someone faster than Guy, like Legretta and Sync, would have taken me down before I even scratched them. So, right now it should be okay...

...I think...

"Whenever you're ready," Guy told me. He was already in fighting position, ready to charge at me anytime now. We were a good ten feet away from each other, hopefully that was enough time to shoot.

"I'm ready..." I said to him. Guy nodded to me and he darted towards me. I had to remember exactly what Jade had me do on the Tartarus...before it was captured and the whole delivering the letter event. Set the rifle against my shoulder and...

_CLANG!_

The rifle flew out of my hands and landed softly on the grass. I lost my balance and fell down to the grass on my butt. I didn't get enough time to pull out my other gun when Guy placed his sword at my neck. I froze in fear as I stared at the sword with wide eyes. My gaze followed up the sword and at Guy who was giving me a sympathetic look.

"Are you hurt?" he asked. I shook my head.

"You scared the living shit out of me, though." I responded to him- ...Why was he looking at my rifle...?

"Did I scratch you?" Guy asked as he walked up to the rifle and he inspected it. "I didn't mean to..."

I felt like smacking my head to the nearest thing here. My hand was the one that did the job. Facepalm. I repeatedly smacked my face as Guy continued to question the rifle. Obviously, he wasn't going to get a response from it but...! _Why_ the rifle? Oh pssh! That was an obvious answer. It was a frigging fon machine! What about _me_? Had he ever noticed that he nearly _killed_ me and all he did was coo the damn rifle?

His back was on me so I had a perfect chance to get my revenge. I stood up, rather upset. I marched over to where Guy was and gave him my best angry evil glare from behind.

"Guy..."

He immediately yelped at my presence as he ran over to Jade for cover, still clutching my rifle. Jade pushed his glasses up and stepped to the side, exposing Guy to me. Guy gave Jade a bewildered look before he returned his attention to me, holding the rifle closer to him.

"Dammit, Guy. Hands off of the rifle." I demanded, advancing on him. He dropped the gun right there, his hands held up. "I swear, I'm going to kill you before we leave for Saint Binah!"

"And how are you going to do that?" Jade questioned, with an intrigued look on his face. He was probably thinking of the many ways I could kill him.

"I'm going to give him a heart-attack by poking him to death!" I replied, making my way towards Guy. I was giving him my poking jabs while he was doing his best to avoid the pokes and watch what was behind him. "How could you? I have to say that was rude of you to ignore the fact that you nearly killed me and go right to the rifle! Submit to your punishment, goddammit!"

"A-ah...I didn't mean to...! F-forgive me...!"

Hands grabbed my shoulders, although a hand removed itself from my shoulder and enclosed itself around the gun I was waving around dangerously. I struggled in Jade's grip as Guy cowered behind a tree, shivering in fear. Since I was really short, he basically picked me up and walked me elsewhere. I kicked in the air hoping to force Jade to lose his grip on me. I wasn't successful, however, the man was an overpowered beast!

"Lemme go, Jade!" I hollered. "I'm going to give that fon-tech maniac a piece of my mind! When I'm through with him, I hope he gets castrated! I'm so chucking him into a place where there's full of goddamn women to tease him! A brothel would be a good ide-"

A hand covered my mouth, preventing me to spout more threats. Next thing I knew, Jade's breath was over my ear, causing me to stop what I was doing.

"If you wish not to explain about this 'God' to Guy, I suggest you stay quiet for now."

Ah, shit. Shit shit shitshitshit! Mother fudging sh- Okay...calm down. Breathe in and out... I was so in trouble right now but that was okay. It was Jade I was dealing with. Surely he would understand... Ohh..._shit!_

Jade had already released his grip from me and he turned around to talk to Guy.

"Thank you for coming, Guy. I know where to start Anh's training now."

"I can go now?" came the broken high-pitched voice of Guy's.

"Why, yes, of course. I see no problem with that."

And with that, Guy fled like the devil was right behind him. Well, he didn't really flee like that but he turned around and quickly made his way back to the campsite...in a very scared manner. That's right, Guy. Cower in fear that I don't do something to you in your sleep. Not that I would but there were always ideas like those to put into his mind. On another hand, a pair of crimson eyes were staring at me. Crap...!

Oh, how was I going to explain this? Give him a straight smile and go: 'Hey Jade, I came from another universe called Earth. It has no fonons and the technology there is advanced enough to make Guy go into seizures. I had no freaking idea how I came to Auldrant but no worries! I'm not a spy for someone like Mohs or anything!'

Yeah right...Like that was going to work. Jade turned around and pushed his glasses up.

"Now, would you kindly explain why you keep mentioning about this 'god'? I never heard you spoke of Yulia nor Lorelei."

"Like...God from 'God-Generals'?" I asked, trying to feign innocence.

"Nice try, Lieutenant Colonel," Jade's expression was NOT impressed. "I'll have you know, you used the word 'god' at least six times-"

"Whoa whoa whoa," I held my hands up. "Six? You _counted_? Two or three I know from today. I think I used it once yesterday..."

"Twice, actually," Jade corrected me. "One during the battle with the Oracle Knights and one later in the evening. The latter was about a spider."

Okay that made sense... "And what about the sixth time?" I asked him. Jade pushed his glasses up.

"That would be the time when you first arrived in Grand Chokmah." He answered. "You were not being very subtle about your choice of words."

Double crap. What was he? He must have been a monster to have heard that.

"Now, I want an explanation, in full detail."

"Uh...I plead the fifth...?" Not that I was from the United States, but it was worth a try. It didn't work when Jade gave me a look saying he was still Not Impressed. I gave him my own stare, not choosing to give in to his wants.

We had a long/short standoff. I was hoping he would just give up some time, but the man was relentless. Finally, I heaved a sigh, giving up. "Don't blame me in the aftermath..."

* * *

I did my best with the explaining. I was a crap explainer. I mostly go 'and then and then and then'. Yep, I was crap. Jade, however, was at least being understandable. He had me paused for a bit and elaborate, and when I couldn't, we just moved along. I never said anything about the game though, that would be very awkward of me if I did. Earth, on the other hand, was a must have. After I said what I had to say...Well...Jade was pondering for quite a bit. He then opened his mouth and I braced myself for what he had to say.

"Colour me impressed."

"Ha...?"

"Your world. It sounds...plausible."

Plausible? _Plausible?_ Please tell me this was a dream. My hand reached over to my other hand and I pinched the skin on the back of my hand. Ow! So it was not a dream! I could die happy right now. Wait...No. I shouldn't die happy at this moment. I should do that when Guy was completely cured of his gynophobia. Now _that_ was something any fangirl would die of happiness from.

"You're not going to question me about the lack of fonons?" I asked him. He gave me a devious smirk.

"Well, we'll see about that later." He looked at the horizon and nodded at it. "The sun will rise soon. We'll have to leave for St. Binah soon. I expect you to be up and early in the next morning for more practice."

Way to change the subject, asshole.

Jade was already making his way towards camp. I had to hurry and gather my rifle and bag before catching up with him. I had a not-very-happy expression on my face. Jade...It was Jade. He had a calm expression in which _no one_ can read his mind.

Well, he was probably weighing his options or something. _I _should be the one weighing my options. What happened if Jade decided to frame me because I seemed very suspicious? If that happened, what would I do then? Go to Luke? No, that was too risky. The Oracle Knights was not an option since they could be up to something. If I went to the Oracle Knights, the group might see me as a traitor. Okay...Well what happened if Jade decided to say nothing at all? My life would be a shit load better, but now that he had my number... No. I don't want to think about it, rather I _shouldn't_ think about it.

Instead...I should be cautious.

"So...how long were we up?" I decided to ask him. "It sure didn't feel like an hour of practice."

"It was surely not an hour of practice." Jade replied, calmly. I narrowed my eyes at him. "It was two and a half hours of practice to be more exact."

"Ha? Didn't you say that it was one hour before sunrise?" I asked him.

"Did I say that? I meant two and a half."

With the campsite in view, I just stood there on my spot while Jade continue his lovely stroll.

Was I mad? Yes.

Did I really want to wring that bastard's neck? Yes.

Choke the living hell out of him? Yes.

To a point where I forgot that he was my financial provider? Most likely.

Forget what I said earlier. This man went from asshole to _pure_ asshole!

* * *

"Welcome back, you two!" Ion greeted us. He saw us coming into view, Jade first then me. Daww...He was soo nice. In comparison to another asshole I was very well aware of. Tear was polishing her weapons while Guy was packing the equipment. Luke was still asleep, in a very odd position. He was lying on his side, using one of Mieu's ears as a pillow much to the cheagle's dismay, one leg was stretched out while the other was hunched up to his chest with one arm wrapped around it.

...Was that a half-fetal position or something? It was weird nonetheless.

Tear's gaze followed mine and she caught sight of Luke in sleeping form. She looked at me and sighed. "I should wake him up."

"Hm?" My wondering mind went to Tear and she sighed once more. Then I nodded furiously. "Oh, right. Yeah you should do that, Tear."

Tear nodded before she walked over to Luke and tried to rouse him from his sleep. Guy, having already finished packing the equipment, walked up to me. He eyed Jade who was speaking to Ion then back at me.

"About earlier..."

"Guy, no hard feelings." I told him. "I know you were told all out but...I'm not experienced. But...lay off the Fon Tech Mode until later."

His eyes narrowed in puzzlement. "Fon Tech Mode?"

Oh right, he never heard of that term before, and the only time I spoke about it was to Luke. Riiight...

"Guy. Anh." Jade spoke up before I was able to explain to Guy about his Fon Tech Mode. We turned towards Jade who was motioning for us to go over there. When we got near him and Ion, he pushed his glasses up and placed his hands behind his back. "About the battle formation."

"Jade suggests that Anh and Luke should stay in the center along with me," Ion said, "Anh is understandable but, Jade, is it really necessary to pull Luke into the center?"

"Is it because of his fear to kill people that you don't want him in battle?" Guy asked him. "I know he was speaking to everyone about the killings. He...didn't take too well with most of the responses. I know that he can set his fear aside, just give him more time."

"I know I lack experience in battle," I spoke up. "But putting Luke on the sidelines of battle? Come on, Jade. You know just as well as I do that he's more capable than that!"

Jade doesn't appear to be very moved by either of our words. "If he doesn't show his resolve, then it is for a naught. Besides..." He stopped his sentence as Tear walked up to us. It seemed she was fully aware that Luke was going to stay with Ion and I when a battle arises. It looked like Luke was up. He appeared concerned about Tear, seeing as he was still staring at her, though she was giving him the cold shoulder.

Ouch.

"Tear, Guy and I will take up a triangle formation," Jade told Luke when he was with us. Mieu was hopping happily at Tear's side before he hopped into Ion's open arms. "You'll stay in the center with Ion and Anh and defend yourself if necessary."

Luke, shocked by the sudden news, stood there frozen on the spot. His eyes were weird with shock. "What?"

Tear tapped my shoulder, signaling for me to come with them. I nodded, giving one more glance at Luke before coming with Jade and Ion who were already taking the lead. While everybody began making their way over to the road, Guy stayed behind. He was staring at Luke for a few seconds. "In other words, you don't have to fight, Luke."

"Guy! We're leaving now!" I called to him. He looked in our direction and nodded. He uttered a few words to Luke before he followed us. I caught up to Ion, who was looking behind him and at Luke.

"I still don't think it was a good idea..." he sighed.

"Ditto..." I muttered.

"W-wait a minute!" The sound of Luke's footsteps came closer.

I sighed. Good, he had already made his resolve. We all came to a halt. Guy and Ion had their full attention on Luke while Jade and Tear stood there with their backs on him. I had also turned around to see Ion already up in front of Luke. He tilted his head to the side with curiosity.

"What is it, Luke?" he asked.

Luke opened his mouth to give Ion his answer, but he hesitated a bit. He looked sheepishly to the side before he looked back at us. "...I'll fight, too."

"Oh? Aren't you afraid of killing?" Jade questioned him. He was standing at my side; one hand underneath his chin while the other arm was supporting his arm. His face appeared taunting but his eyes were dead serious.

"...Of course not!"

"You shouldn't force yourself, Luke," Tear said. She had also turned around with her arms crossed. She wasn't very convinced by his words, either. Anybody could tell he was hesitating with that answer.

Luke stomped his foot. "I'm serious!" he exclaimed. He then looked at the ground again. "I mean, okay, yeah, I'm a little scared but... If I have to fight to survive, then that's what I'll do. I'm not going to hide in the corner while everybody else is doing the fighting!"

"Well, most of us are going to do the fighting," Ion corrected with a smile. Mieu nodded happily before jumping out of Ion's arm and at Luke's feet. He was tugging Luke's pants happily.

"I'm so proud of you, Master!" he chirped. Luke kicked the cheagle away in a very irritated fashion.

"Would you shut up!" he yelled at the kicked cheagle. Ion ran over to Mieu and rubbed the spot where he was kicked. Luke huffed before he turned his attention back at us. "Anyway, I've made up my mind. From now on, I fight. Without hesitation."

Tear didn't seemed very convinced. She walked up to Luke to a point where Luke had to lean back. At this distance the two of them were really close in height. And how tall was Tear? Taller than me that was a given. She was tall enough to block out Luke's face.

"To kill someone means to rob them of their future. Even if it is to protect yourself."

"...And it can earn you the hatred of others." Guy added. Tear looked back at him and nodded. She turned back at Luke, her hands were on her hips now, leaning even closer to Luke.

"Are you prepared to deal with that?" she pressed on. "Can you face that responsibility? Without running away? Without making excuses?"

Luke tsked. "You said so yourself. You aren't killing people because you want to." He shoved her out of the way and walked up to the rest of us. His head was lowered to the ground. "...I've made up my mind. I'm not here just to be a burden. I'm gonna take responsibility, too."

Jade nodded thoughtfully, placing his hands behind his back. "I don't see any problem with that. We'll give Luke a chance to show us his resolve."

Guy gave Luke a small smile before patting him on the shoulder. "Just don't push yourself too hard, Luke."

Luke's only response was to nod. Guy patted his shoulder once more before releasing it. And to think we would just keep going on in silence, Jade had to break it.

"Well, this is such a lovely conversation, but I fear that our battle formation will have to change now that Luke is joining the battle." Jade sighed, sarcastically. Tear facepalmed while Guy laughed nervously. Luke glared at Jade and I rolled my eyes. "It's just so hard to make up a formation..."

"So? Do a box formation!" Luke's hand flew up in the air. "What's so hard about that?"

"But would you prefer the left or on the right?" Jade continued his questions.

"Does it really matter?"

"Yes it does, I wouldn't want you to be the one to have to defend me while I'm casting my spells."

"Fine! I'll take the corner in front of Tear!"

"But to leave you to defend our only Seventh Fonist..."

"Actually..." I spoke up. "Wouldn't a 'V' formation work? Like...Guy and Luke in the front, Jade and Tear in the middle and I'll be in the far back. Since Luke is fighting, I should be too. I'm not experienced in fighting and a rifle was meant for range so having me in the far back would work...I think."

"I like that idea." Guy nodded in approval. "That way, all of us are in battle. If one of us is taken down, Anh could grab gels or whatever is necessary from the Wing Pack and race up to whoever is hurt. That way, no one else had to bother shouting at each other to grab the Wing Pack. Also, if one wasn't able to defend one of our fonists, she should be able to give us more time with her rifle."

"But that leaves Fon Master Ion unprotected." Tear pointed out. "What if something happens to him?"

"I could defend myself when the time comes." Ion spoke up. "I may be fragile but that doesn't mean that I can't defend myself."

"However, Styx wouldn't be very pleased if he knew that you were using Daath Artes." Jade's eyes narrowed.

...Who was this Styx person?

Ion looked at Jade. "I would deal with him when that time comes."

Jade pushed his glasses up. "Very well. We should be going then. St. Binah would take two days now that we have wasted enough time. Guy and Luke take the lead while Tear and I take the rear. Anh and Ion will stay in the middle as planned, however, when a battle arises, you two will move to the back immediately. Understand?"

* * *

We walked for who knows how long now. All we were doing was follow the trail that was apparently leading us to St. Binah. Jade said that if we continued on the way, we would make the checkpoint before nightfall. I sighed. So we came up with a battle formation but I wanted to rest so badly now. My feet were getting sore. Ion tugged on my sleeve and I looked to the side.

"How are you doing?" he asked. I blinked at the question.

"My feet are sore and that's just about it." I answered him. "I should be asking _you_ that question, Ion. You have lower stamina than I do."

Ion laughed. "I'm holding up. I don't want to be a burden to anybody right now." He looked in front of him as his eyes narrowed in concern. "I'm more worried about the letter."

I nodded. It was understandable. We were no longer in possession of the Tartarus so the traveling will be much longer than expected. "Anise is taking care of it right now, you shouldn't be worried. It's in good hands."

"Yes, you're right. Anise can take care of it until we catch up with her." Ion looked in front of him, and I did, too, where Guy and Luke were exchanging their own conversation. Both of them were grinning and, if things weren't being really tense right, easygoing. I looked back at Ion. His face appeared to enjoy watching the two of them but his eyes said something else.

"What's up?"

Ion tore his eyes away from them and stared at me, looking a bit bewildered. "I'm sorry?"

"You look..." I paused to find the right word. "...conflicted... Is it about that Styx person?"

Ion's gaze warmed up. "I shouldn't be worried about him. The one who should be more worried about him is Jade."

I looked behind me and at Jade. He was giving us an intent stare. He was probably listening in on us. Then again, we're not that far away from him and Tear, so it was probably the case of him eavesdropping. "Oh really? Why's that?"

"Styx is a acquaintance of mine," Jade explained. Not a friend...? "He's also Ion's personal doctor."

"Styx agreed to allow me on this mission on the condition that I don't force myself too hard or use Daathic Fonic Artes." Ion chuckled a bit. "He also said that if anything happened to me, he's holding Jade responsible."

"Not a friendly doctor..." I murmured. Well...he maybe he was, he just hates Jade's ass. I mean...who doesn't? All right, maybe not hate his ass since it was a really nice one-NO! Stop thinking about that thirty-five year old man's ass! That was nasty thought. Bad, bad Anh!

"Oh no, he's rather friendly," Ion corrected me. "It's just that, when it comes to him and Jade, they just like to mess with each other."

Now _that_ got my interest. An eyebrow rose at Jade. "Such as...?"

"Oh various things," he answered. Great. As if that wasn't vague enough. "Aside from that, Anh, have you heard of Capacity Cores?"

"Uh...no..."

"_Myuu~!_ Mieu knows!" cried the cheagle as he jumped from Ion's arm to my shoulder. "Mieu has a good example: The Sorcerer's Ring!"

"Thanks Mieu," I laughed. "Should I also remind you that Guy thought it was a Fon machine and he went all Fon Tech Mode on you?"

"_Myuu?_"

"A capacity core or C. Core for short is an accessory with a fonic arte applied to it." Tear explained, revealing her own C. Core that was an arm bracelet underneath her glove "Depending on the capacity core, you can gain abilities that will aid you in battle."

"They could increase your speed or let you learn new techniques in the middle of a battle." Guy added. I turned around to see Guy and Luke joining into our conversation. So now the whole gang was in on this.

"So everybody has their own C. Core on them?" I asked, looking around. Luke, Guy, Jade, and, surprisingly enough, Ion nodded. I blinked at Ion. "Ion? You, too?"

"Yes, you may not be able to see the fonic verse but..." Ion's hand moved to the symbol of the Order around his neck. He flipped it to its back to show that there was a fonic verse written along the sides of it. "It amplifies my fonic artes."

"Mine's here." Luke stated, showing his wrist bracelet that was hidden underneath his glove. If memory served me correctly, Ion gave him that bracelet. I nodded, turning to Jade.

"Please tell me those glasses aren't a C. Core..." I murmured. Jade pushed his glasses up.

"Why...yes, yes they are..."

Tear's brows rose as her eyes widened, Luke made a noise while Guy coughed nervously. My eyebrows flew straight up, surprised that I hit the mark. And then he decided to finish his sentence after seeing everybody's reactions.

"...a good accessory for others to think that they are a capacity core." Jade continued, grinning. "But I hate to inform you that they are not capacity core."

"Then where _is_ your capacity core?" Luke asked.

"I am not obliged to answer that question."

...Great. Now I was getting weird ideas where it should be. Like that time in that Tales of Symphonia manga omake where Raine's exsphere was apparently on her right thigh while Sheena's was underneath her left boob. Now where would Jade's C. Core be? A necklace? A bracelet? Or maybe those glasses _were_ his C. Core, he just doesn't want to say it out loud. Turning my attention to Guy, I gave him a quick scan. There was no sign of any accessory aside from that pendant and the two ropes at his right side.

"What about you, Guy?" I asked. "Is that pendant a C. Core?"

Guy laughed, shaking his head. "Nice try, but mine's not as evident as everybody else's." He removed his glove on his right hand to reveal a silver ring on the middle finger. He smiled down at it. "It was...a gift."

"A gift?" I repeated. "A gift from who?"

"Pere?" Luke guessed.

Guy shook his head again, placing his glove back on. "Not from Pere. I got this when I was young."

It must be from his sister...He doesn't mention her until much much later. "Well...I guess I'm the only one that doesn't have one..."

"With all that jewelry you have, I'm surprised you don't have one." Luke said. "Maybe someone could etch it into your ring. Or those earrings."

My hands flew up to my ears, covering my earrings. "Oh no. No no no no no. Nobody write anything on these earrings. They are a gift from my boyfriend. It's off limits for _any_ capacity core etching or whatever on these."

"Okay, how about the ring?"

"Ring's off limits, too!" There was no way I was going to get any of my belongings of Earth turned into a capacity core. No way. Absolutely no fricking way! When I come back to Earth, people would be asking why I got those weird etching on my ring or earrings. Yeah, no. I don't want to be the one doing the explaining.

"The choker could be turned into a capacity core." Jade suggested. "I could personally do it myself."

Now everybody gave Jade a dubious look.

"There was a capacity core on the Tartarus," Jade explained. "I hate to see that capacity core go to waste."

"...Fine! Fine." I sighed, taking off the choker and passing it over to Jade. I waved a hand at him. "Do what you want with it." I don't care what he does to the choker. As long as my other two jewelry stayed out of the capacity core topic. Nobody touch the 14K gold. Nobody.

"You can have it back now." Jade's hand flew past my hand, choker in his hand.

"Eh? That was fast..." I took the choker from him and placed it back around my neck. It didn't feel any different than it was before. Didn't he say he was going to turn it into a capacity core...?

"The strap was changed." Jade explained. I turned around to see the 'original' strap in his hand. Same black colour, same shade, same...length...? Now that was freaky. "Lucky for you the strap was the capacity core."

...Okay then. This just got freakier. What was next? Little cute monsters with huge ass fangs about to bite a huge chunk out of me?

* * *

We made it to the checkpoint. And by checkpoint, I meant a giant ass wooden pole with two signs pointing in two different directions; one at the west and another in the east. Both of the signs were written in the Fonic Alphabet, and at that very moment, I completely forgot how to write and read the alphabet. I believe at some point in the past, Anise and Ion were teaching me but now...Crap. I completely forgot now.

Jade walked up and pushed his glasses up. "St. Binah is now to the east. We'll have to move out of the road now and near the forest in case the Oracle Knights uses the main road to search for us." He turned in a different direction, still in the east, but we were not staying away from the main path. In front of us was a forest, and we just walked right into it. Jade was leading the way, creating a clear path by moving some tree branches and loose ferns.

"Are we going to camp out in the wild, again?" Luke whined, his shoulders slumped. Guy laughed, patting Luke's back.

"The wilderness doesn't bite. I think we got enough holy bottles to stave off the monsters for the night."

Luke's shoulders straightened as he gave Guy a puzzled look. "Holy bottles?"

"They are items that fends monster attacks off," Ion explained. "Monsters doesn't like the smell of the holy bottle so they tend to stay away. The holy bottles, however, don't last forever. They last for at least three to four hours at most."

"There are some cases where the monsters still attack travelers even though they used the holy bottles," Tear spoke up. "And there are cases where the monsters gets angered by the scent and they just attack. Those cases are really rare though, but it's still possible. We all should stay close to each other in case there's an attack."

I nodded, agreeing with Tear. But then something caught my eye; it was another shade of green except it was a moving shade of green. Curious, I stopped just to have a closer look at it. Tear had noticed that I stopped.

"Anh, didn't you hear? I said stay close." She called over to me. I nodded, waving a hand at her.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be there in a sec." I called back to her. I moved the leaves to see a pair of yellow eyes staring back at me curiously. And...was that a purring sound coming from it?

The little monster hopped out of the bush it was hiding in, startling me. I fell on my butt but I hadn't made a noise to alert the rest of the group. Again, the purring sound and the large pair of yellow eyes still staring at me. Once I was one hundred percent sure that it wasn't going to attack me, I got to my knees. I examined the monster. It was green, with a pair of large leaf-like ears. If I didn't know any better, it was one of the most adorable monsters I had seen up close as of yet.

"Tear...!" I whispered eagerly for the fonist. "Tear...!" Hopefully she heard me, the monster looked so cute!

"Well, aren't you a little cutie." I smiled at it, rubbing its head. It made a purring noise, and opened its hidden mouth, revealing a set of fangs. My smile immediately turned into a frown when I saw the fangs. The cute yellow eyes that was staring at me curiously turned into a menacing glare. Instead of the cute purr I heard earlier, it changed to a growl. It leapt, intending to bite the hand that was rubbing its head.

I yelped, moving my hand away. I scurried back, trying to get away from it as fast as I could. I didn't get too far when my back smacked against the tree. The green monster continued it growling and pursuit. It leapt at me and I moved my hands in front of my face, kicking my legs in the air. One of my foot met with the monster, kicking it away from me. It didn't stop it from continuing its attack. It leapt at me again and a purple fonic glyph appeared right underneath it. The monster stopped attacking it and looked around it.

"Nightmare!" Bubbles appeared around the monster, popping in front of it, and then, it fell to the ground limp.

Tear appeared right behind the tree I was leaning against and she sighed. "Honestly. And right after what I said, too."

I got up, striding after her. "Sorry, Tear, but it was so cute! Why can't cute monster stay cute? Like Mieu, for example!"

"_Myuu?"_

"Whoa, are we that close to the group?" I asked her when I heard the cheagle. Tear nodded. "That makes me feel soo much better now..."

"Be careful next time." Tear warned. "Even some monsters can appear harmless but they really are dangerous. The cheagles are the only example of harmless monsters because they are herbivores."

"Lucky them..." I muttered.

* * *

"We are about a day's walk from St. Binah." Jade said, pointing at the map that was set in the middle of the entire group. We had already set camp since the sun was about to set. The cooking today was already done; the meat was just being cooked as Jade called us for a small meeting about tomorrow. "If we cut through the forest, we can make it there by midday. Most likely the Oracle Knights are guarding the area."

"Why would the Oracle Knights be there?" Luke asked.

Guy nodded thoughtfully. "I get it now. St Binah's the closest city to the Tartarus. They probably expected us to stop there."

Jade nodded. "For a Kimlascan, you're certainly familiar with Malkuth geography, Guy."

"I like reading about vacation spots," Guy stated simply.

"Oh I see. How nice..."

"So how are we going to enter the city then?" Tear asked. "With the Oracle soldiers surrounding the area, it would be difficult for us to just simply sneak into the city. Attacking them is not an option."

"Considering that there are at least three God-Generals to meet us." Ion nodded.

"And they would take us all down since two of our members are very lackluster." I pointed to Luke and to myself. "The God-Generals could us either of us as a weak point."

"So what are we going to do now?" Guy asked, he crossed his arms, looking at Jade. "Tomorrow's when we arrive."

"St. Binah is surrounded by a numerous amount of trees." Jade pointed to the town's surroundings. He tapped a certain corner of the dot. "Over here is the location of a large tree called the Soil Tree. Guy, how good are your tree climbing skills?"

Guy blinked twice at that. "Pretty good since I had to climb trees to get to a certain master of mine."

"Guy!" Luke whined. "That was not necessary!"

Guy chuckled. "Aside from that, when it comes to climbing trees, I can do it."

"Good," Jade nodded. "We only need to see if Anise is there. If not, then the military should be in possession of a letter. All you have to do is gather the letter and return."

"Sounds easy enough for me." Guy said.

Jade pushed his glasses up, and he folded the map up. "Well then, that aside. Shall we have dinner?"

"Time to eat!" Luke cheered as he grabbed his plate of steak, sliced a piece of it up, and bit into it. He then spat out that piece of the steak and made a disgusted face at the remaining piece. "Ugh, this steak is dry! Who was cooking today's dinner?"

"I was." Tear stated simply. She was giving him a glare as she ate her steak. "If you don't like it then don't eat it."

Luke tsked. "I didn't say I didn't like it. I just said it was too dry. Do we have some sauce for this?"

And then he received the glare of death.

* * *

Morning came, and _that guy_ had to wake me up for training/practicing/whatever. I sat up groggily in my makeshift bed, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I had to comply since the last time; he stripped me of my bed so I didn't have much of a choice. The six foot something soldier stood there watching my every move like a hawk. I stood up, stretched and followed him with my bag sliding on the ground.

We ended up at some area that wasn't very wide open like the area we were at yesterday. This one was condensed with trees and moss, very similar to the Cheagle Woods. I looked around me and sighed.

"What're we doing here?" I yawned tiredly. My days of sleeping in changed to wake up around the same time I woke up for university thanks to this man. Does he have an internal clock that wakes him up at midnight or something like that?

"Depending on the situation, we could be ambushed in a tight space such as this," Jade explained as he pushed his glasses up. "This would be a very good start with self-defense. Now then, if an Oracle Knight comes up to you, what is the first thing you would do?"

"Kick him in the groin and run." I answered instantly. There was a minute of silence before Jade sighed.

"Well, let's pretend that I am that Oracle Knight."

I wasn't given much time to react when Jade was already up in front of me. I instinctively tried to kick him, only to have him block my attack with one hand, the other hand was free so it slammed into my shoulder, forcing me back and he ended up throwing me to the ground. I hit the ground, the impact caused me to groan, and, before I was able to recover, a spear was already right next to my neck. My gaze fell to the weapon before it went up to Jade. He pushed his glasses up before backing up, allowing me to sit up.

"As you can see, that was not the right tactic." He said as I stood up. "When it comes down to self defense, you shouldn't be acting with the first thing that comes to mind."

"Yeah, I think I already know that since I was thrown down to the ground..." I rubbed my back. "So, acting rash is out. What next?"

"First you need to access the information quickly," Jade told me. "Take everything into consideration, weapons, fallen parts, the land itself. After you have clearly access your surroundings and your viable options, you may proceed with an attack. Now then, to recap earlier. Pretend I am the Oracle Knight about to attack you."

Again, he ran at me. Access the area, he said? That was easier said than done. However, he did mention weapons and my bag was still in my hand and not over my back. I gripped my bag tighter and tossed it at his face with all of my strength. He blocked it with the shaft of his spear. He threw me back and I fell back onto my back with a groan.

"That...didn't go too well..." I uttered, getting back up.

"No, that was perfect." Jade pushed his glasses up. Perfect? I got my ass whooped...still! "Your surroundings was flat, there was no time for you to run for cover, your weapon, in this case your bag, was the right thing to use."

"Great...That's...great..." I muttered, straightening my uniform. There was a rustle in the bushes that caught our attention.

"Ow...! Guy...! Could you be any closer...!"

"I can't help it! Tear's too close to me."

"Fine, I'll move away from you then."

"Sorry about that..."

"Will you two stay quiet? I can't hear what the two of them are saying!"

"Everyone...I don't think they are talking right now... In fact...Jade is coming in this direction."

"What are you talking about, Ion? They are-"

Jade stood right in front of them, cutting Luke off. I stood there with a raised eyebrow as Ion stood up and walked over to me. Jade allowed him to pass, as for the other three... Well, I think they were going to get something that was the closest thing to scolding.

"My, what naughty children we have here. Eavesdropping during a practice."

"Sorry about that, Anh." Ion whispered to me. "Everyone was curious and Guy seemed to know what was going on. We didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"Since everybody is up, I suppose we can head to St. Binah." Jade spoke up before I had a chance to say anything.

Well, now we were moving...

* * *

The Citadel: St Binah. Not much to say about the large city except that if Grand Chokmah never existed, this place would probably the capital. It was grand and the walls looked medieval, lined with bricks that had aged. Okay, so maybe it shouldn't be the capital but it sure looked like one. All of us tracked through the forest and towards the very large tree that stuck out of the walls of the citadel. I looked at the side and what Jade had guessed last night was right. There was two or three Oracle Knights standing guard in front of the entrance of the city. Well, it wouldn't matter anyway; we were heading towards the Soil Tree and-

"Colonel," Tear spoke up, pointing towards the entrance. Jade turned around to see a wagon come up towards the entrance. Jade signaled to us to the bushes so that we listen in on them.

"We're from Engeve. We're here to fulfill a purchase order for food supplies." The man in the wagon stated to the soldier. The soldier just nodded, the other two soldiers that were standing in the entrance stood out of the way to allow the wagon in.

"You may pass," the soldier told the wagon.

"Oh, there is one more wagon after this one." The man said before he was ushered into the city.

"Well well, how convenient." Jade muttered, his hand underneath his chin. "This saves Guy some climbing."

"Instead of me sneaking in, we're going to stop the second on and hitch a ride, then?" Guy asked.

"Indeed. Let's go back down the road toward Engeve a little way." Ion suggested. "We could still catch up to that second wagon."

Tear nodded. "Yes, let's."

We all nodded to each other and began trekking our way back to the checkpoint. Everybody except Luke, he remained at the spot he was in.

"Hey! Quit making plans without talking to me first!" Luke shouted at us.

Tear sighed, turning around. I looked back only to have a blue glove turn my head towards the other direction. I pouted, following everybody else. Next thing I knew, Tear had already caught up to us, with a grumpy Luke tailing her. He was looking in another direction but he was still trailing the group.

* * *

Well, Fate must be on our side. The wagon we were stopping just happened to have Rose inside it. A little convincing to her and we got the ride into St. Binah. The only problem here was...It was too tight! I had heard of the term lie low, but this was taking it to another level! Rose and her companion moved some boxes out of the way for us to 'lie low'.

"I must say, this is rather uncomfortable," Jade spoke up. I felt heat rushed to my face. Oh, Karma, why do you hate me so?

"I-It's not like I _want_ to touch it!"

"Yes, but I do not like the idea of my Lieutenant Colonel groping me."

"Would you two shut up?" Luke hissed. "You two think you're in an uncomfortable position? Look at Guy and I!"

I'd rather not describe what position those two were in. To put it simply, it took gayness to a whole new level...

"It's either you or Tear," Guy protested. "And you know I can't touch women!"

"Sadly enough, Tear and Ion are the only ones that are pretty comfortable..." Jade.

"Anh's cloak can hide Ion and I pretty well..." Tear admitted. She was wearing my cloak and she was also draping it over Ion. The hood was up and her head was hung low so that if the Oracle Knights caught sight of her, they would think she was from Engeve. Both Tear and Ion were sitting on the boxes. I would have taken Tear's spot but she said that I would be better for Jade since I know him better. In her mind, she was probably glad since _she_ wasn't the one touching her superior's ass.

The wagon started moving and we all stayed quiet. Now we were stuck like this until we got into St. Binah.

Dammit...! Awkward...!

* * *

**Oh ho ho ho~ Awkward indeed! And Jade found out earlier than expected, but it's Jade.**

**Now we really get into St. Binah in the next chapter!**

**Review please! And see you all in chapter 10!**


	11. Chapter 10: The Citadel: St Binah

**And now we are in St Binah! Enough of the awkwardness! :D**

**Pardon the random pervertedness in the previous chapter. I can't seem to help myself. And no, even though it was implied, there will be no AnhxJade in the future. Back onto business... **

**I also have a special guest that's appearing in here! :D He never appeared in the game but who cares! He's the epitome of awesomeness!**

**Thank you, Mieu for beta-ing this~!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToA. Enough said.**

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* * *

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**Chapter 10: The Citadel: St. Binah**

Rose brought us into St Binah, without a hitch. The Oracle Knights wasn't suspecting our coach at all. Once we got into the city's inner parts, Rose and a few other people from Engeve moved the boxes so that we were able to leave the suffocating tight ass spot. We said our shares of 'thank you's and 'good bye's and Rose left, leaving us to our own plans.

St. Binah looked more impressive from the inside instead of the outside. Of course it lived up to its name as the Citadel. Almost every building in the city was built out of brick, heck, even the ground was bricked. If there weren't bricks, then there was some form of plants like grass, trees, or flowers. Shops were set up inside the buildings while there were some small stands. In addition to the usual weapons, grocery and tools/accessory shops, there was a florist here as well. Surrounding the stand was a variety of flowers I wasn't able to name. Well...Aside from the rose, any other flower would be foreign to me.

"...Uaaah!" a voice screamed, breaking my train of thought. I looked away from the children to see Tear hugging Guy's arm. Both of their backs was on me but I knew Guy had said something Tear didn't like.

"Don't say stupid things." Tear told him, calmly.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Stop touching me!" Guy begged, quivering uncontrollably. "Please!"

After a moment's consideration, Tear released Guy's arm. Slowly. He toppled over onto the ground, still shaking as if an earthquake had hit. Many people around paused a bit to look at Guy and whispered to each other before continuing on their way. Now to resist the urge to poke his defenseless form.

Resist...

Resist...

Ain't working.

I walked over to Guy and knelt down, poking his arm lightly. "Guy, you still alive?"

"P-please stop touching me...!"

Luke tsked walking over to Guy and I, he brushed my hand away from Guy before trying to help him up. "If he asks you to stop, then stop. You'll give him a heart attack if you continue."

"Well then, we should continue on our way," Jade spoke up. "Guy, I know you're enjoying yourself but we really must move on."

"What part of me is enjoying it?"

"None whatsoever." Luke answered. "Hey, Guy, can you stand?" A really long pause gave him the answer. "I guess it can't be helped. Jeez Tear, do you really have to cripple him?"

Tear didn't give him an answer; instead she scoffed, moving along.

"I need someone to take Guy's other side," Luke told us, looking around. He already got Guy's arm slung over his shoulder, but Guy might had been a bit heavy.

"I could help, Luke, but I'm of the opposite gender..." I sighed. A pity really. I want to tease him some more, but he was teased enough. Later maybe.

"Of course, I cannot do such a thing." Jade replied, shrugging. "I'm old and you are much younger than I am, Luke. You wouldn't want me to break an arm or something."

"Breaking your arm sounds really tempting..." Luke muttered.

"I could help." Ion volunteered himself.

"No." Tear and I said simultaneously.

"Ah...Well..." Ion laughed nervously.

"I-I'm all right, Luke," Guy said, "You can let go of me."

"What are you talking about? Do I look like I'm stupid? You're still shaking."

"It's not as bad as it was before." Guy admitted. I looked behind me to check on him. He was already standing on his own, using Luke as a support. "Besides, Ion's right. I should be able to overcome this fear...in time."

"'In time' is the keyword here, Guy..." I laughed, facing forward. If he thought Tear was bad, wait until he sees Anise. All we need to do is switch Luke with Guy and it will be Guy's worst nightmare.

"It still doesn't mean I can't get over it."

"In the meantime, I think we should head over to the inn." Tear suggested, gaze going to Ion. Ion looked at her and his gaze dropped.

"I'm fine!" he protested.

"Actually, that would be a lovely idea." Jade nodded. "Guy, Luke, Anh and I could meet General McGovern. Tear, you and Ion can book a few rooms in the inn."

"We don't have enough money for the stay," Tear pointed out. Jade smiled, waving a small hand at her.

"No worries, just mention my name and it should be fine."

Tear's gaze narrowed and she eventually sighed, giving in. "All right." We were at what looked like the center of the city. Tear led Ion to the northern end while Jade pointed over to the eastern end where a large building with military guards standing at the gated entrance.

"Well then, shall we be on our way?"

* * *

"Oh! If it isn't Jade!" an old man whose beard covered half of his body said as everybody entered the room. The elder and another Malkuth soldier were in a conversation before Jade interrupted them. Naturally, the response wasn't of anger, but more of shock.

Jade had just said a few words to the guards in the front entrance. They told him that General McGovern was already talking to someone else, but, knowing Jade, he walked right in. He overheard the two men talking to each other, and just walked right in. No problem whatsoever!

The elder's beard covered half of his short body but underneath the long beard was a yellow robe. He wore a red cap and it appeared that one eye was hurt since it was never seen nor raised. On the other side of the table was probably General McGovern. His gray hair was tied into a ponytail and only two bangs were sticking out. I don't even know why but his hairstyle reminded me of Saito Hajime from Ruruoni Kenshin. His nickname should be Bamboo Curtain or something. I probably shouldn't use it since he was a general. Aside from the hairdo, the general wore teal Malkuth uniform with white gloves and boots.

"It's been a while, Field Marshal McGovern." Jade nodded towards the elder man as he approached him.

The old man laughed as he stroked his beard. "I'm long retired now. There's no need for those formalities anymore. And what about you? Don't you think it's about time you accepted a promotion? Even at your age, you could have easily made lieutenant general by now."

"Oh, I don't know. I think I have my hands full just being a colonel." Jade casually replied.

"Is Jade somebody important?" I heard Luke whispered. I turned around to see Guy just shrugged.

"Sounds like it."

I rolled my eyes, turning my attention to the other two. Luke and Guy had no idea. Best friend to the Emperor. Being a colonel was more than enough for Jade since most would imagine Peony barging into his office and harassing him about 'cute little Jade'. Or when Peony randomly has his lovely strolls around the city, the soldiers would come directly to Jade, asking him where the Emperor would be. Yeah, Jade's hands would be full if Peony does either of those.

"You and His Majesty go way back, don't you?" The elder asked Jade, still stroking his beard thoughtfully. "Could you ask him to do something about the Oracle Knights?"

I should stop calling him 'old man' or 'elder'. Hmm...Old Man McGovern sounds right to me. Honestly, I don't even know if his first name was revealed to the entire party. Maybe just the 'Field Marshal' part. I believed General McGovern's name was revealed. Now what was it? Glen? Glen sounded right. Was it with one 'n' or two, I couldn't remember.

"I'm afraid they're after us." Jade told Old Man McGovern. "Once we leave the city, they should as well."

I felt someone tap my shoulder and I looked over it. Luke was gesturing to me to come closer and so I turned to Jade and Old Man McGovern before leaning in closer to Luke.

"So Jade's friendly with the Emperor?" Luke asked me.

"Not just friendly," I corrected him. "He's best friends with the Emperor."

Luke almost gagged as he gaped at Jade. "Him? With the Emperor?"

"Believe it or not, it's the truth." I muttered, recalling the time when I met him momentarily. In the audience hall, he was somewhat all business, then...when we arrived to his chambers, he was like another man. All easygoing and teasing. Especially when it comes to his close buddies, like Jade.

"Have you received any letters from a Fon Master Guardian?" Jade asked, moving along to the topic. General McGovern nodded. He pulled out an envelope and slid it across the table towards Jade. There was a seal on top of the envelope, the seal looked like one from Daath. One side of the envelope was torn, indicating that it was already opened by someone else.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we opened it to confirm the contents for security reasons." He said as Jade took the letter from the envelope.

"That's fine." Jade nodded, opening the letter. "There shouldn't be anything in there that would be a problem for you to see."

Anise was pretty good at not revealing anything. She must have chosen her words carefully. Or so I thought when the letter was passed to me. I skimmed through the contents, choking on my own saliva when I found out that half of the letter was written to Luke. And in that letter was a whole bunch of cutesy stuff. Anise...Even _I_ don't write like you do. I slapped my face as I handed over to Luke.

I forgot about her 'detailed' letter.

"What does it say?" Luke asked as he took the letter from me.

"It appears half of it is addressed to you." Jade explained.

I sighed. No kidding. With all of the hearts at the end of each sentences that mentioned Luke in it. Anise also fancied the borders of the letter with a lot of girly stuff. Luke just earned himself a real life fangirl. I saw only one line regarding Ion while the rest was to Luke. Luke doesn't appear to be very moved by the letter itself.

"I think I'm gonna be sick..." he uttered.

Guy laughed, slapping him on the back. "Damn, Luke, popular enough with the girls? Just don't get carried away. You're engaged to Princess Natalia, you know."

"You have got to be kidding." Luke snorted. "I don't want anything to do with that annoying chick... Tear, on the other hand, now she's something. Her personality needs work though."

"Who's personality?" Tear asked as she walked into the room. She crossed her arms in an irate manner as she gave Luke a menacing stare. Her stare went elsewhere and it lightened. "What's the 'next location'?"

"Kaizur." Jade answered. "It's a city to the southwest of here, on the other side of the Fubras River."

"If we make it to Kaitzur, we can rendezvous with Van." Guy said.

Tear's gaze softened at the mentioning of her brother. "Van's there..."

"Hey, I don't know what happened between you two, but you're his sister, right?" Guy asked. He took one step closer to Tear, it didn't make much of a difference since there was a chair and part of the table still in between them. "Don't go trying to slice him up like you did in Baticul, okay?"

Tear nodded. "I know. I won't."

That still meant she would.

"Well then," Jade turned towards Old Man McGovern. "We'll bid you our leave."

"If the Oracle Knights are chasing you, I'll gladly lend you a hand." Old Man McGovern smiled, patting Jade on the arm a few times. "I was elected by the city representatives here. Come by anytime you need help."

Jade nodded. "Thank you, Field Marshal."

"And you, young lady." Old Man McGovern spoke up, everybody had already left so it was just Jade and I with the two McGoverns. The two of us turned around to see what else he had to say. I pointed to myself and he nodded.

"Take care of Jade," he told me. "You may not know him as well as I do but regardless of such. He was a handful when he was younger and he's still a handful even now."

Jade pushed his glasses up with a droll look on his face. "Field Marshal, please, I'm not a child anymore."

Old Man McGovern laughed. "You're still a child to me!"

I smiled, resisting the urge to laugh. "Thank you, sir." I kindly gave him a bow before I ran off to catch up with the other two.

* * *

"Oh, welcome back everyone!" Ion chirped as we approached him. Apparently Ion wasn't resting in his room, instead we found him in the kitchen. Tear and I weren't looking very pleased at Ion. In fact, in Ion's hands was...a sandwich! A SANDWICH! And not just any sandwich, it was almost done.

"Where did that sandwich come from?" I asked him.

Ion looked down at the sandwich and then back up at us with a smile. "Oh, I made it for myself."

"Fon Master, you could have asked me before I left the inn." Tear sighed.

"I didn't want to bother you, Tear," Ion chuckled. "Besides, I just got hungry some time after you left. The kitchen staff said they didn't mind letting me use some of the food here. They even gave me a recipe book for me to keep."

In the game, I recalled that we found the recipe. Now...Ion did the finding for us and we got a recipe for our recipe collection or whatever it was called. Cook book! That's it! Damn. Note to self, learn to cook before everybody else knew you never cooked before.

"Shall we head over to the rooms?" Ion asked. "Tear had already made the reservations. It appears that the inn was willing to let us stay here since the Malkuth military will be covering the cost of the inn for us."

Sweet.

"Since Luke is familiar with Guy, they will share a room," Ion chirped again. "I'm with Jade and Anh, you're sharing a room with Tear."

"Yes!" I beamed, pumping a fist into the air. They all, except Ion and Jade who just smiled and pushed his glasses up respectively, gave me weird looks and I coughed. "Sorry, I really don't like sharing one with...Uh...yeah..." My gaze went to Jade but I still got weird looks. "I'm...going to check the rooms right now."

Then I fled.

* * *

"Ah, bath~" I sighed as I doused myself into the bathtub. "Oh god, I missed you~"

Skipping the examination of the room, I went straight to the bath, which was apparently part of the room itself. It was just separated by a door, which was just perfect. Bathroom, how long was it since I got a good bath? Since Grand Chokmah, right? I couldn't remember. The Tartarus wasn't meant for luxury so no bath. Grand Chokmah was such a long time ago. Or maybe it felt like a long time ago. But screw that! I missed a good bath. Feeling dirty twenty-four/seven and hair was always greasy was seriously irking me.

I lathered a bar of soap onto the cloth and rubbing the cloth against my skin. I sighed once more. Ah...this was paradise. As a bonus, this wasn't my house, so I get to use all of the hot water I want! Though I shouldn't be doing that but damn! I missed you, bath! And here I thought that (after the experience in Engeve, old styled baths) the baths here were going to be old fashioned. Good to know that it was just Engeve because they were just a town and not a city.

They had almost everything in here! Spare toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, towels, soap, a toilet, a sink...everything! It was like going to a hotel! Except I never been into one before so I wasn't able to compare that. However! It felt like a hotel to me. As for the bath, there was shampoo and soap. I was hoping for body wash but soap was just as good. After this bath, I was going to have to wash the uniform.

Good for me that I had a bathrobe so I can always wash them in that. I wasn't leaving the inn anytime soon, anyway. Oh wait...I think I still have my PJs somewhere. Hmm...Were they in the Wing Pack at this moment? I should check it when I get out.

After a good wash, I dried myself before putting on the bathrobe. I left the cotton rub against my skin and I tied the belt around my waist, twice, to keep it tight. I placed a towel around my neck so it would catch the water droplets that were still in my hair. It didn't bother me to know that there wasn't a hair dryer; I loved leaving my hair to air dry.

I stared at my uniform and sneered at it. The blood smears made it looked really ugly. I was going to have to change that really soon. I chucked the uniform into the tub full of water and began to scrub the blood areas the best I could. Ew, I hated dried blood. They were a bitch to handle. Now how long was it since they got here? Two three days? Something like that.

* * *

Well, most of the blood was gone. I had just finished the boots, now they were left to dry. I had changed into my PJs. White PJ with pink vertical stripes. They weren't the best ones since the pants were down to my mid calves but they were comfortable and one of my favorite jammies. The towel was still wrapped around my neck as I looked around the room.

After playing a quick game of eeny meeny miny moe, it was decided that, rather _I_ decided it, I was taking the bed on the right while Tear would take one on the left, the one closest to the door. I was contemplating on taking that bed but there was this random thought when someone might barge into the room and attack us, Tear would be the first to confront him or her. But then there was also the possibility of the window... If they came from the window then I would be the one attacked first.

I was thinking this waaay too hard.

There was two beds; twins beds in fact. Nice. The blankets were plain and thin but I guessed it was for the weather; it was pretty nice outside so no need for thick blankets. The bed themselves were nice and soft, so anybody could jump on them. And the pillows! The pillows. I could hug them to death. They felt like my pillows back at home. There were two chestnut colored dressers for Tear and I to use, one on the left side of the Tear's bed and one on the right side of mine. Not that we really needed them but it was nice to put some stuff in there if we stayed here for some time. Too bad we weren't.

White paint spanned the four corners of the wall, there was a pot filled with flowers on the shelf right next to the window. The flowers, themselves, were a shade of hot pink to purple. Between the walls and the beige carpeted floor was a wooden border with flower etchings on them. To finish the room off, there was a desk with a chair for some paper work and a lamp placed on a counter between the beds.

I was used to staying in a room with someone else since I was sharing a room with my younger sister for quite some time. I could imagine Tear as my younger sister. Except Tear wasn't shorter than I was. Darn. Sharing a room with another female brought back memories of my own room. The only thing that was missing was the excessive anime crap I would put all over the room. Other than that, it was perfect.

Except for that teddy bear that was randomly sitting in the corner of the room. I frowned at it, getting a closer look at it. It was beige all over and the eyes were covered. It reminded me of the bear I had bought for my sister for her birthday. Now what did she named that bear? Chinky Bear? Not to be racist or anything but I think she named it that way because of the eyes. That and it was made in China, too. I wondered if this one had it, too.

Picking up the bear, I turned it to its bottom to find the tag. Instead, it exploded in my face, creating a large cloud of thick smoke. I fell to the ground, coughing as I fanned myself, trying to get rid of the smoke. A hand reached out for me.

"Are you okay, miss?" the voice asked. I coughed, reaching for the hand as they pulled me up.

"Thanks," I thanked whoever it was. Then I got a good look at the face of the person and I felt my heart skip a beat. Blond hair, green outfit, chef's hat, red cape and a huge ass pitch fork. "Aaah!"

I shoved the man back into the corner I found him in as I scrambled onto the bed. The door slammed opened as Luke, and Guy ran onto the room, ready for battle.

"I heard a scream!" Guy shouted, madly looking around. I tossed the first thing that was in my hands, which was my towel, and it landed right on Guy's face before he turned his head towards the Wonder Chef's direction.

"Out!" I shouted at them.

Guy tore the towel off, opening his mouth to protest. "But you just-"

"Out!"

"Jeez, that woman has no appreciation," Luke muttered, sheathing his sword. He walked up to Guy and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Guy. Looks like she doesn't need our help."

I closed the door once both of their feet were on the hallway. I turned around, back on door, hands on door, and my heart was thumping madly as I glared at the Wonder Chef. He was dusting off his clothes, completely oblivious. I tore myself away from the door, marching towards him. "What are _you_-" I pointed to him. "-doing _here_?" I pointed to the floor.

"Why, I am the Wonder Chef!" he beamed, his arms splayed in front of him. I facepalmed. As if _that_ wasn't a given.

"Thanks, but why are you here?" I asked him. "You're not supposed to be here at all!"

"Eh? This isn't Sylvarant?" he asked, looking around him. He didn't look upset, more like he was intrigued about the area.

"No," I sighed, after hearing the name of one of the worlds in Tales of Symphonia.

"Tethe'alla?"

"No."

He paused a bit, pondering lightly. When he thought of something, he lightly smacked his fisted hand into his palm. "I got it. Terca Lumireis."

Terca what now? I believed I heard it before but I couldn't seem to put my finger on it. Heaving another sigh, I answered, "No."

The Wonder Chef shrugged, lightly. "Well, then, where am I?"

"Auldrant."

He snapped his fingers. "I knew something was wrong when they said that..." He paused a bit, and then shrugged. "Oh well, since I'm here, let me teach you a recipe~!" He held his pitch fork up high and with a ridiculous smile on his face.

"No, thanks." I told him, blandly. I crossed my arms, intending not to be budged by that answer.

"No?" His face dropped to a frown as he lowered his fork.

"No, we already found a recipe in this town." I explained to him. "It was the sandwich reci-...And you're not listening..."

No, he wasn't listening. Instead, he was sitting on my bed, digging through my bag in search of something. He tossed out numerous things, including the rifle and cloak, from the bag and onto the bed, mumbling to himself.

"Ah! Here it is!" he exclaimed as he pulled out the...Wing Pack? He started fiddling with it and then the screen appeared and he flipped through the sections in the Wing Pack. His eyes were filled with concentration, which made me wonder what was he up to. I had so many questions to ask him. First thing was first: How the hell does he know how to use the Wing Pack? Second: How did he get here? Third: Was he going to repeatedly appear in towns and other places while we travel around Auldrant?

"Looks like you're missing some ingredients..." he said, finally. I rolled my eyes. Go figure. "Well! Since you already know the recipe, here's some ingredients!"

He lifted his fork up into the air and a cloud of smoke enveloped him. I waved a hand in front of me, trying to get rid of the smoke once more. Once it was cleared up, the stuff on my bed was back in my bag, but my bag was on top of my bed. Everything but the Wing Pack. I sighed. Great. He said that he was giving me some ingredients and then disappeared. Honestly, I don't get him.

He wasn't a part of Auldrant and yet, here he was. He said that he was going to give me some ingredients and yet he just disappeared the same way he appeared. Minus the bear. He was probably a ball of magic since he threw nearly everything in my bag onto my bed and once he left, they were all back in. Yep. He was magic all right. Unexplained magic, but magic nonetheless. Magic: The solution to all unexplained things.

Magic aside, I was just about to reach for the Wing Pack until there was knocking sound coming from the door. I tsked before I left the Wing Pack where it was before answering the door, poking my head out. Once I saw Tear standing out there, I sighed in relief and let her in. She walked into the room, cautious.

"What's wrong?" I asked her. Tear was looking for something, that I was sure. She even checked the empty drawers of the dresser.

"Guy and Luke said they heard a scream in here." Tear answered, looking at the underside of the beds.

"I got an unexpected visit," I admitted. "That's all."

"An unexpected visit from who?"

No need to lie. "The Wonder Chef."

Tear gave me a dubious look. "Anh, the Wonder Chef exists only in stories."

Great, someone doubted me.

"Ask Luke or Guy! They probably saw him!" I cried out. "I'm not lying!"

"Anh, they didn't see anything in here," Tear sighed, picking up the Wing Pack. Aw...Was the Wonder Chef hidden behind the bed when they came in? Tear's eyes narrowed as the screen appeared, revealing what I believed to be the food section. "Anh, did you go shopping?"

"No, why?"

"We have more ingredients than we used to..."

"That would be the Wonder Chef's doing."

"Anh, he doesn't exist."

"Well, then that doesn't explain why there's ingredients in there. I haven't left the room since I got in here." I sighed. We were not going to get anywhere. I might as well drop the conversation. "Can we just drop it, Tear? We're not going to budge on what we know. You need anything else?"

Tear held up a slip of paper. "I was wondering if you want to do some shopping. I know we don't have much Gald on us right now, but see if you can buy some supplies."

"No guarantees there, Tear."

"I know but try." Tear walked out of the room, but she paused at the door for a bit. "You should change to something else before you go though."

Right, I forgot that I was still in my PJs...

"Right, right, later." I gave her a shooing motion. Tear nodded before leaving the room. I mentally counted to five before I stared at the slip of paper. Oh great. Uh...I couldn't remember what each swirls looked like. The Fonic Alphabet looked foreign to me...just like Hiragana and Katakana. For some reason, I was glad that I learned Japanese during my first year of university before somehow appearing in Auldrant. I wasn't even sure why I should be glad but I was. Japanese writing and the Fonic Alphabet wasn't even remotely close. Aside from the swirls and such.

Ah screw it! If I learnt Hiragana and Katakana, then I could learn the Fonic Alphabet as well! Now as for shopping...

...I got it...!

* * *

I already changed into my somewhat damp uniform as I searched the entire inn for Luke. I didn't get a hold of him until I found him and Guy sparring with each other in the yard of the inn. Luke was doing most of the attacking (some sort of thrusting attack) while Guy was just avoiding the attack, blocking it if necessary. They looked like they were even but then Guy made some swift move (from what I saw, he dodged before making a move that looked similar to the one Luke was trying to do), knocking Luke to the ground. Luke groaned before Guy held out his hand to help him up.

"Dammit!" Luke cursed, taking Guy's hand. "I swore I had it that time."

Guy chuckled. "Nice try, Luke. But you still need to work on your stepping."

"Okay," Luke nodded. He readied his sword for another battle. "Again!"

"Uh..." I spoke up before they could continue. "Can I interrupt for a sec?"

The two of them stopped and relaxed their position. Luke sighed, irritably. "What do you want?"

"Can I borrow Mieu?" I asked them. The cheagle, after hearing his name, poked his head from the bush he was hiding from. He ran towards me, and up my uniform, onto my shoulder. Mieu rubbed his furry head against my cheek and I patted his small head. Luke nodded, gruffly.

"Fine, fine. Not like I needed him right now."

I smiled at him. "Sweet, thanks, Luke. Just what are you guys doing?"

"I'm trying to teach Luke Sonic Thrust," Guy explained. He laughed as if he was recalling something earlier. "He's still not getting it even after the many times I threw him down with the same attack. I don't think he'll learn the attack by the end of today like he said."

Luke tsked. "I said I would get it by the end of the day. Just you wait and see, Guy!"

"Is that so?" Guy asked in a teasing tone. His arms were crossed and he was towering over Luke. "Well, then, how many times did we spar?"

"Stop rubbing it in!"

"I'm going to leave now..." I told them, leaving them to themselves. I head towards the market. Mieu was now hanging from my shoulder, eager to see the market. I pat the cheagle's head. "Just promise me one thing, Mieu. Don't tell anyone what I'm going to ask you."

"_Myuu~!_ I promise!"

Good. Cause you were going to be my translator.

-page break-

"A..." Mieu began reading the first letter on the slip of paper Tear had given to me. "...P...P..."

I knew he had some knowledge but I didn't think it was going to take this long.

"...E...L..." Mieu had already spelled the entire word out. "Ah...Ah... Ap... Ap-p... Ah-pp..."

"Apple gel," I told the cheagle. Mieu was attempting to read it but it was taking a tiny bit too long. At least he was trying, unlike me. No one would notice, right? It was just me spending quality time with Mieu. Clever Anh.

I sat on a bench in an open space where people would walk around and not notice that there was a talking cheagle. I was sitting not too far from the shops so I could just head over there once Mieu was done reading the paper. Mieu was sitting on my lap while I was holding the slip of paper in front of him. He was slowly pointing towards the letters written down. His ears perked right up when I told him what it was.

"_Myuu~!_ Apple gel! There's a one to it, Anh. So we should get one apple gel!"

I smiled, rubbing Mieu's head in a gentle manner. "Great. Now read the next one."

"Yes!" Mieu pointed to the second line. "...P..."

Aww...he was sooo cute! His adorable voice trying to read the line. From what he was trying to spell, it was a panacea bottle. And it seemed that I had to go buy two of them.

"Pa... Na... Pana..." Mieu attempted to read it. "Pana...cea. Panacea! Panacea bottle!"

"Good job, Mieu!" I rubbed his head once more. Mieu looked up at me proudly.

"Mieu can read apple gel and panacea bottle!"

"So that's all we have for now, let's do the actual shopping," I grinned at the cheagle. Oh, he wouldn't mind if he was being used. After all, I still didn't know how the read it. Ah well, I should learn how to read it sooner or later. I picked up Mieu as he climbed up my arm and sat on my shoulder. I walked over to the shop. Time for some shopping!

* * *

Well, shopping was done. I could use Mieu for every other time I would need him for shopping. That was absolutely great! And no one would notice unless Mieu spoke up. Hopefully he wouldn't. I was just about to head over to the inn when Mieu jumped up and down on my shoulder.

"_Myuu~_ Anh! They are at the gate! They're at the gate!" Mieu chirped as he pointed to the entrance of the city. I looked to where his little paw was pointing to to see everybody hiding behind a large bulletin board. Tear and Jade was closest to the door while Guy and Luke stood across from them, placing Ion in the middle. I frowned a little bit as I approached them. Careful not to get too close to Guy.

"What's going on?" I asked them. Tear gestured me to come closer to where she and Jade was. I passed Mieu to Ion before coming close to them. Tear moved lower so that I was just a bit higher than her, getting a good view of the gate.

Peering past the two obvious Oracle Knights standing there, there were not three God-Generals but there were four of them. Along with Largo, Arietta and Legretta, Sync the Tempest had joined them. Oh, that was great. Sync was there. Green spiky hair, face covered by a freaky looking mask, he wore a black uniform. There wasn't much to say about him since he wore a mask and was completely mysterious except for the insert spoiler here. Other than that, he was quite the mystery.

Sync stood in the middle of the group, Legretta and Largo flanked his sides while Arietta's monster stood directly behind him. Arietta, herself, was standing also standing behind him, not too far from his right, stroking her pet liger.

Largo looked well, even from the attack from Jade if I remembered correctly. Although, he was looking a bit pale, he must be still recovering. Well, a man with his stature could stand against a lot of hits.

"Have you found Fon Master Ion?" Legretta asked one of the soldiers standing at the gate. The soldier quickly saluted her before he shook his head.

"It doesn't appear that he's entered St. Binah."

Arietta clutched her little doll closer to her so that the head of the doll covered half of her face. "Those people with Ion are the ones who killed Mommy... My liger friends told me." She lowered her doll, her eyes filled with rage. "I'll never forgive them..."

Uh...Heart to you too, Arietta?

"What about that Fon Master Guardian they said was hanging around?" Sync asked, taking a step closer.

"She appears to have made contact with the Malkuth military." The soldier answered. "But Malkuth is saying it's 'classified' and is refusing to provide any useful information."

Largo gripped an area over his heart. It must be the wound that was inflicted on him. "If I hadn't let that Necromancer get the better of me, Anise would've never gotten away."

We all tore our attention away from the God-Generals and towards Jade. He seemed impervious of the stares and continued focusing his attention to the gates. We could have stared at him all day before a very disturbing laugh broke out causing us to turn our attention back to the entrance.

Oh God...It wasn't...

"That's why I told you!" the voice boasted. I nearly wanted to cringe and flinch because it was Dist. "The only one who can defeat that beastly Jade is the elegant servant of the gods."

Elegant servant of the gods? By the Greek Gods, Aphrodite would have fainted if she heard him say something like that. And defeat Jade? Now who was it that picked on poor runny nose as children?

Wearing a black suit and purple pants, Dist the Reaper...floated...along towards the four current God-Generals. Pale lavender hair surrounded by what looked like huge dyed peacock feathers. The man must have lost his sanity _as_ a man because he was crossing his legs in a feminine fashion instead of the usual male way. Does he have no pride for his man parts? I was quite surprised he wasn't on the ground while clutching them since he held that kind of sitting for quite some time now. To top it off, he wore large circular glasses and purple...lipstick.

For some reason...He was making me change my thought of him _not_ being gay. Because the thought of him being either straight or gay never occurred to me, looking at him now...That changed. Was he really gay? Gay for Jade? Or was he trying to be more feminine _for_ Jade, not that he was going to suddenly turn a new leaf if Dist ever did that. Hands down for Dist being a total gay man.

I wondered what would happen to me if he knew I was working for Jade. I should worry about it until he actually meets me instead of just wondering it now. Does he still have that revenge journal of his?

"The esteemed member of the Oracle Knights' Six God-Generals, yours truly, Dist the Rose!"

Without missing a heartbeat, Sync quickly corrected him. "You mean 'Dist the Reaper'."

Dist, you had no idea how much that name suited you. Rose? No. Reaper? Yes. Reaping the Necromancer's work. Yep, it suited him. Very well.

Dist pounded his fists onto the arms of his floating chair. "How is one so beautiful as myself a 'reaper' and not a 'rose'?"

The bishonen fangirls would like to have a word with you, Dist.

"There's no point on dwelling on the past." Legretta turned to Sync, leaving Dist completely ignored. "What do we do now, Sync?"

"Hey." Dist sounded extremely offended.

"Withdraw the troops from Engeve and St. Binah," Sync answered Legretta. He, too, was ignoring Dist.

"But...!" Largo started to protest but Sync held his hand up in the air, cutting Largo off.

"Your wound still hasn't healed." Sync pointed out. "The Necromancer almost killed you. Why don't you take a break? Besides, the only way for them to cross the border is through Kaitzur. If we stay here and antagonize the Malkuth military, it could spark a diplomatic incident."

"Hey! Stop ignoring me!" the ignored cried out.

"So next comes deciding how to deal with them at Kaitzur." Legretta nodded. "Let's return to the Tartarus for now and consider matters there."

"Inform the troops. First Divison, withdraw!" Largo ordered to the Oracle Knight. The soldier nodded, saluting him.

"Yes, sir!" He ran elsewhere to inform the troops.

...Weren't they _inside_ St. Binah...?

After the soldier left, the four God-Generals exchange glances with each other before they departed, leaving Dist behind. Dist clenched his fists as he looked like he was having a seizure on his chair.

"You're all just jealous of my intelligence and beauty." And with that, he just left.

Once we were completely sure that all of them were gone, we stood out in the open. Jade's face looked like he wasn't pleased to see one of them there.

"So, Largo survived."

Guy looked at the entrance. "This is the first time I've seen the Six God-Generals. Actually, there were only five of the six there."

"Who are the Six God-Generals?" Luke asked. He was looking at all of us as if we were about to give him an immediate answer.

Luckily, Ion did the answering. "The six executive officers of the Oracle Knights."

"But there were only five of them," Luke pointed out. Ion exchanged short glances with Jade.

"There's Largo the Black Lion, Dist the Reaper, Sync the Tempest, Arietta the Wild, Legretta the Quick and..." Guy listed the current God-Generals, lifting a finger for each. "Looks like the one missing was Asch the Bloody."

"They are Van's immediate subordinates." Tear explained to Luke in simplest terms. She looked away, one hand underneath her chin. "If the Six God-Generals are taking action, then the one who's trying to cause a war is Van..."

"The Six God-Generals side with the Grand Maestro. Mohs is likely giving orders to Van." Ion elaborated. Tear frowned, crossing her arms.

"Grand Maestro Mohs would never do something like this." She countered. "My mission for the Grand Maestro is top secret, so I can't divulge any details. However, I assure you it is one of peace."

Uh-huh. Peace. Riiiight.

"Wait a minute!" Luke shouted. "Master Van wouldn't try to cause a war either!"

Riiight. Now who was it that put crazy ideas of being a hero to a certain redhead person? Tear obviously still doubted her brother.

"It's just the sort of thing my brother might do." Tear narrowed her gaze at Luke. Luke wasn't backing down either; he gave her his own glare.

"What are you saying, huh?" Luke challenged, pointing a guilty finger at her. "What about you? How do we know you're not a spy working for that Mohs guy?"

Because Mohs wouldn't kill Van. Unlike the other way around, Van wouldn't hesitate to slice the ugly fat man into sashimi. Even though sashimi would taste better than a fat deluded man.

"Please, settle down," Ion begged as he stood in between the two of them. Guy nodded as well, walking towards Luke and placing an arm in front of him.

"He's right. Now's not the time to be worried about Van or Mohs. Right now, we have to get past the Six God-Generals and prevent this war."

Tear softened her gaze and nodded, slowly. "You're right." She looked at Ion and Guy. "You're both right. I'm sorry."

Luke moved Guy's hand away from him, turning away. "I'm not accepting the apology of anyone who badmouths Master Van."

Tear shot Luke a glare that said 'I wasn't apologizing to you'. She hadn't said it out loud, but she was smart not to say so. Otherwise they would be jabbing at each other some more.

"Well, now that _that's_ over, let's head for Kaitzur, shall we?" Jade asked all of us. He earned himself a few sighs, both irritated and weary, and nervous grins.

"Actually," Ion spoke up, "would it be all right if we stayed here for a bit?"

Luke gave Ion a once-over before nodding. "Yeah, your face does look pale again."

"Even after eating that sandwich?" I asked him. Ion nodded slowly.

"I'm sorry."

Ion...You were starting to sound a lot like Colette and Emil. No need to apologize for every small thing. It was for your benefit in the first place. If Luke was being such an ass and said no, I would had kicked the ass before dragging it towards the inn.

I should make something for Ion! Good idea!

* * *

Bad idea...

Actually...it was a good idea if I knew how to cook. I bitterly stared at the final product of the sandwich I was making. Everyone else had walked Ion to his room, including Mieu. I, on the other hand, walked over to the kitchen with the sandwich recipe in hand. There was a large selection on what kind of sandwich to make, but they were so easy to make though. Take some thin slice of meat, your desired vegetables and such and slap them onto a piece of bread, mayo was optional. So I up the ante a little bit by trying to make grilled cheese sandwich. I mean...How hard was it to make grilled cheese sandwich? You put cheese in between two slices of toasted bread and melt the damn cheese.

Well... _My_ sandwich had cheese melting off of the sides of the bread. When I took it out of the frying pan and placed it onto a plate, the cheese that was hanging out of the bread had already hardened and it stuck itself on the plate. And not just the plate, there was some on the pan as well. Well, that was going to be a bitch to get off.

Apparently, making the sandwich was harder than I thought. I glared at the recipe book that had only a five points of instruction. _FIVE_!

I was hoping to give it to Ion so that he might feel a little better. I glared at the sandwich on my other hand while my free hand rested on my hip. Maybe I should eat it and search for the Wonder Chef. He might be able to help me make it, but would it be a waste to ask him to do something like this. And where would he be now? Crap.

"Darn. You're not good at this." a voice spoke up. I screamed, tossing the plate at whoever it was. He caught the plate and took a bite of the sandwich and made a face. "So...tell me how you fail to make the bread crispy _and_ make the cheese melt like crazy?"

"Get off my back, Guy." I moaned. The blond chuckled as he finished the sandwich.

"Now, let the master show how it's done." He tore off his gloves off and rolled up his sleeves. He was going through the Wing Pack while I rolled my eyes.

"Guy. It's a sandwich. You put ingredients in the bread and cook it."

"Right. And you didn't seem to do a good job at it." He chuckled, pulling out a frying pan. He buttered it before tossing a slice of bread on top of it. I frowned at him. That wasn't in the cook book. "You don't always have to do what the cook book says."

"Well, improvising is not a good idea for me." I said.

"No, it shouldn't be for those who were starters," Guy agreed, chuckling to himself. He took a slice of cheese and placed it over the slice of bread before putting another one on top of it. He hummed to himself before flipping the sandwich over onto the other side and grinned at the sandwich. "Will you look at that side of the bread. Nice golden brown look means it's ready and it's going to be crispy. Just a few seconds on the other side and..." He tossed the sandwich up in the air and it landed into a plate he grabbed from the table. He passed it over to me. "We're done."

"Thanks, Guy." I thanked him, taking the plate from him. That wasn't going to help me actually make the thing. "I was hoping to make it for Ion myself..."

"Ion would appreciate the thoughts but that sandwich was still too soft for grilled cheese sandwich."

"Gee, thanks..." I muttered. "I'll ask you to teach me how to do it next time."

Guy grinned his woman swooning grin. "No problem."

I smiled, nodding at him before I left the kitchen to go to Ion's room.

* * *

"Knock knock~" I said before opening the door to the room Ion and Jade were staying in. Ion was sitting on the bed while Jade was nowhere to be found. Such a good babysitter, Jade. I walked over to Ion and handed him the plate with the sandwich. "Room service~!"

"This is really unexpected!" Ion took the sandwich before smiling at me. "Thank you, Anh!"

"Actually, Guy was the one who made it," I admitted. "I was trying to make it but it didn't go too well."

"At least you tried," Ion pointed out with a smile.

"You should have seen it though," I laughed. "It was disastrous! The cheese was flowing out of the sandwich before it was properly cooked. And I thought it would be okay if I just followed the recipe." I shrugged lightly. "Turns out it didn't go too well."

Ion chuckled. "Apparently not."

I sighed, looking at him from top to bottom. "How are you feeling?"

"A little bit better," he admitted, taking a bite of the sandwich. His eyes lit up like a kid and a smile was brought to his face. "This is good. Tell Guy I said thank you."

"All right." Seeing him smile made me smile. I think there was a saying that says that a smile was contagious. "By the way, where's Jade?" I looked around the room. I thought he might be eavesdropping on us or something. It was something Jade would do actually.

"Jade went out to request some funds for the trip." Ion told me. "He said that a certain someone had used up a large sum of money so now we have little."

I slapped my face. _I _was the one that used the large sum of money. "I can't help it!" I cried, lifting my face and moving my fists in front of me like a child. "He asked for 12,000 Gald! And I didn't know the way to Engeve! Fuuu! It's not my fault!"

"Fuuu?" Ion repeated, his tilted his head to the side.

Ack! I wanted a desk instead of my hand now. My face felt really hot, was I blushing? I think I was. "Ah. I make random sounds if I get frustrated...sometimes..."

"Sounds?" a new voice asked. Jade had stepped into the room, looking interested. "Such as?"

Geh! Time to flee! I stood up. "Since Jade's here, I should head over to my room now. I got something to do."

"Oh, let me walk you to the door." Ion set the plate onto the counter and stood up.

I want to hug him soo badly. He was being too kind.

"That's all right, Ion," I told him, holding a hand up. "I don't want Anise raging at me in my dreams if you push yourself."

Before he could say anything else, I bolted right out of the room.

* * *

I sat on the desk with a list of the Fonic Alphabet I had saw earlier today from the list. It wasn't a lot but at least I can start with those first. To be able to recognize them, I written the English equivalent underneath it. I stared at the letters. Too much swirls. And here I thought Hiragana was bad. This was worse.

Swiggles, swiggles, and more swiggles.

Waay too much swiggles.

Damn it! If I had a choice between this and Mandarin, I would totally choose Mandarin!

Ugh. I give. I would procrastinate when that time comes. For now, I was just going to screw it and just use Mieu until someone found out about it. All right!

I dropped my pencil and folded the paper up, stuffing it into one of my pouches. I slid the chair back, causing it to make a loud skidding noise. My arms fell to the side as I thought of something to do. Nah, I should improvise on the way.

Begin plan Be Lazy!

* * *

**Yes, if you haven't noticed yet, the Wonder Chef made his appearance. To those at the forums complaining about him not being in Tales of the Abyss, you know you are *coughBritcough*. I hope you're happy.**

**Sylvarant and Tethe'alla are worlds from Tales of Symphonia while Terca Lumireis came from Tales of Vesperia. Yay for Tales references! :D And yes, I did actually failed making grilled cheese sandwich (this really happened in real life). I just happened to put more cheese in the sandwich and it just happened to melt before the bread was properly cooked/toasted.**

**Review and...stuff happens! Shit won't happen because the last time I said that my laptop went BOOM!**

**A shout out to my buddy, Loy, who's birthday (Sept 4th) happens to be today in her side of the world. So...Happy Birthday, Loy! Or in Japanese: Tanjoubi Ometetou, Roi-chan~!**

**See you all in the next chapter!**


	12. Chapter 11: Fubras River

**So this might be the last weekly update of this fanfic since I'm returning to university next week. Let's see how well I keep this and homework in balance. I may update biweekly-monthly now, it all depends.**

**Pardon the bleh fighting scenes. However, they were just monsters. You slice and dice them and move on your way. It's not like a boss battle where something ridiculous happens.**

**Also, I'm pretty short on computer time and if there's an error, please leave a review and I will check on it tomorrow (aka Monday).**

**I thank Mieu for beta-ing this.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own. Period.**

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* * *

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**Chapter 11: Fubras River**

Well, that sucked. My idea of a lazy day was to not get my ass dragged out by Jade to help him with his chores. I was not expecting that. That and I lacked some sleep thanks to him. I yawned tiredly as we all made our way towards the Fubras River. I earned myself a few stares from Ion and a few backwards glances from Luke and Guy. I wasn't surprised. It was, after all, a really loud yawn.

"Jeez, what's gotten into you?" Luke asked. I gave him a glare before rolling my eyes.

"Oh gee, I don't know," I responded, shrugging lightly. "I went to bed waay past midnight, some red-head decided to barge into the room demanding for some gel base and cotton early in the morning and not too long after, some long haired person with glasses dragged me out of the room for 'some'-" I made air quotation marks to them, "-practice! I'm totally not going to be tired after those events."

"It's not my fault that you decided to sleep past dawn." Luke huffed.

"I like my sleep, thank you very much," I snapped at him.

Luke snorted. "Like I care about your sleep."

I narrowed my gaze at him. "Can I shoot him?"

"Anh, you're being irrational," Tear told me. "We should stop take a break some point in the day. Her lack of sleep is affecting her way of thinking."

"No, my thinking is perfectly fine," I protested gruffly. "Tired but perfectly fine."

"What's one plus one?" Luke asked, with a grin on his face. I gave him a deadly glare.

"Two," I answered. "I may be tired but I'm not that stupid when it comes down to math."

"Jeez, so uptight." Luke muttered, turning away. "Just like Tear."

"I heard that, Luke," Tear said from behind.

"Please settle down..." Ion spoke up. "Fubras River is only a couple day's walk away."

That caused me to groan. My face was buried in my hands as they both slide down my face, pulling the bottom of my eyelids. "That takes too long...! I wanna just fly over there instead of walking." Rather, I want to sit on a couch and just move the darn character to the Fubras River. That at least doesn't take two days.

"Sheesh, she is being really irrational..." Luke muttered, shaking his head.

"Anh, I might suggest you taking out your weapon when we are outside of cities," Jade told me suddenly.

I sighed, "Why?"

"Well, for starters," Jade began walking past me and my eyebrow rose. "Monsters are attacking now."

"What?" Luke quickly turned around, hand on weapon.

Not too far ahead of us were monsters; one of the monsters there was the green one that attacked me in the forest. Vicious little bastards. Cute, but vicious. They rode atop of purple boar-like monsters. There were at least five of them, both the plant and the boars. Flying beside the entire group, was a couple of birds I knew pretty well as Chirpees. Let's see...that totaled up to twelve monsters. Fun...

Luke and Guy had already begun the battle formation, drawing their swords and slashing the first couple monsters that made it to the group: the boars. The plant-like creatures jumped off of the boars the moment the boars were hacked into pieces. They began running, looked like waddling to me, towards the four of us. Jade and Tear quickly made them into mush as I grabbed Ion's hand, pulling him to the back of the group.

Back to the group, go to the back to the group and-

"Anh! Watch out!" Tear shouted at me. I looked behind her to see that boar charging towards me. Ion was thinking on his feet and he practically tossed the both of us to the ground as the boar ran past us. It didn't stop the plant monster to jump off and attack us with those huge ass fangs. It opened its mouth, revealing a lot of saliva dripping from the fangs. I grimaced, putting myself between it and Ion, at the monster before a spear impaled its head and the head of the spear exploded, sending green goo to my face. I made a face before wiping the goo off.

Thanks, Jade.

That was the nastiest thing that ever flew to my face. Gross.

I gave Jade a glare as he pulled his spear out of the ground and ran to face the boar that was turning around. While I was on the ground, I took that opportunity to take out my rifle. Getting up, I scanned the area to see if I was needed somewhere. Luke and Guy were just finishing up a boar while Tear was healing a wound that was found on Luke's arm. Her healing was cut short when a Chirpee dived right in between them.

"Oh yeah?" Luke challenged it. "Eat this! Sonic Thrust!" He thrust his blade right into the Chirpee and a small gust of wind enveloped the blade. It was already dead before it even hit the ground. Luke smirked at it then turned to Guy who took down a boar. "How's that, Guy?"

"Not bad!" the blond responded. "Now watch this! Tiger blade!" Guy jumped up into the air taking a plant monster with him. He spun in the air before landing two slashes, bringing the monster down. He landed gracefully while the monster pieces fell with a _plop_ sound.

"Show off!" Luke shouted at Guy who just laughed.

You both were showing off...

Something caught my eye and I immediately fired at it. Ah great. It was another plant guy. How many were there? Fifty? I hoped not! I loaded another bullet in the chamber and aimed at the monster. I was a bit too slow since the monster had already tackled at me into the ground and bit into my arm. I cried out in pain just before I smacked the damn thing with the rifle. The thing was making me sick hearing it growl like a feral creature. The fact that my blood coated its mouth like lipstick didn't help one bit. While I was wrestling the thing off of me everybody else had already finished off their monsters and Luke was the first to come to my aid.

"Hold still!" Luke demanded as he tried to find an angle to smack it off.

"Easier said than done!" I snapped at him. "Get it off before it sinks its fangs further in!"

"I said hold still!" Luke shouted. He gripped his sword, lifted it up and swung his sword like a baseball bat, smacking the damn thing off of me. A small bit of blood trailed from its mouth as it flew off. Once it hit the ground, i got back up and snarled at us before Guy sliced it down in half, ending the growling...snarling...whatever that was. Meanwhile, Tear was healing my wound with First Aid. Honestly, I wasn't so sure if she was able to heal me since I wasn't composed of fonons. Oddly enough, after the green light disappeared...it healed. Now there was only a pink spot where the wound once was...surrounded by whatever was left of the fabric.

"Is everybody all right?" Tear asked, looking around.

"Somehow we managed," Guy responded. "I'm just surprised to see that many monsters in one group."

"Most likely someone who was here earlier used a Dark Bottle," Jade spoke up. "Normally monsters shouldn't be attacking in large numbers, but if someone uses the Dark Bottle, it's very likely. Regardless of such, we should move quickly before more arrives."

"He's right, we should get out of this area," I said, standing up. I suddenly felt really light-headed as my eyes lost focus. I clutched my forehead before I saw sideways. Or was that me falling sideways? Whatever the case was, the next thing I saw was black.

* * *

"...Nngh..."

Warmth. It was oddly warm around me. Especially my back. I opened my eyes to be greeted by darkness. There was a light behind me since I saw my own shadow, the smell of something being burnt and the crackling sound of burning wood. I blinked twice to adjust my vision. I was warm all over and the only place that was cold was my forehead. Reaching up, I felt a wet cloth on my forehead. Sitting up, I let the cloth drop onto my lap as I stretched.

Ah, that felt good. After I lowered my arms, I looked around, a bit dazed. I came into eye contact with Tear who came over to me.

"How are you feeling?" Tear asked me once she reached to me. She knelt down beside me.

"Like I had a good nap," I responded automatically. I rubbed my temple, trying to remember what had happened earlier. Monster attack and collapse. "So...I collapsed and...where are we?"

"The Fubras River is about another day or two from where we are." Tear explained. "After you collapsed, we contemplated whether we should stop and let you rest or have you carried the rest of the way."

"I guessed I was carried the entire time," I said, "and I was carried by...who...?"

"He really didn't like the idea but..." Tear nudged her head towards a certain person who I stared at him with wide eyes. I pointed to him.

"Luke?" I asked in a hoarse tone. "_Luke_ carried _me_?"

"Reluctantly." Tear added.

"If I said I don't want to then I don't want to!" the aforementioned person said out loud, startling me. I looked over to see that he was across from us, on the other side of the fire. There was a pot in front of him and I slightly heard chopping sounds from the other side.

"Now now, Luke," Guy laughed nervously. "What's done is done."

Luke grunted before returning towards the fire. He was doing something with it but I wasn't able to see what he was actually doing. Ion was just staring at the fire with Mieu on his lap. The light from the fire danced in his eyes. He appeared to be a bit troubled. I heard Tear sighed. Turning towards her, I saw her shoulders sagged a bit.

"He was complaining the entire time. He was also grumbling about the Colonel, saying it was his responsibility to take care of his subordinates. The Colonel, however... He said that he was too old for stuff like these and that Luke should carry him."

Using his old age as an excuse. That was so like him.

"Where's Jade by the way?" I looked around, it doesn't appear that he was here with us.

"He's doing the first watch," Guy explained. He then looked down at what Luke was doing and laughed. "Luke, you're doing it wrong."

"I did?" Luke asked. His attitude and tone completely changed.

"Luke, you have to-The sauce! The sauce!" Guy jumped up as Luke grabbed for the pot only to recoil because of the metal handles. Tear had already grabbed the pot and placed it next to the fire, she lifted the lid up, looking inside of it.

"I don't think any of the sauce was burned," she declared. Ion was already next to her with a wooden spoon in his hand. Tear took the spoon from Ion and stirred the sauce around. She sighed in content. "Good, the sauce didn't burn at all. Dinner's ready now."

"What's for today's dinner?" I asked her as I walked over there. I smelled the sauce, which had a familiar scent to it. "Spaghetti?"

Tear passed me a plate, which had the pasta with the sauce on top. She had already passed a plate of it to Ion before she gave me my plate; she then proceeded to pass a plate to Luke who passed it to Guy. It made me smile to see that Luke passed it to Guy before receiving his own.

"Thank you for the meal," Tear said before we began the meal. I bit into the pasta hearing it crunch a little bit. I paused a bit before chewing the rest of the pasta.

"Luke...Did you make tonight's dinner?"

Luke scoffed a bit. "Yeah, what of it?"

"Pasta's not cook fully," I told him before mixing the sauce and the spaghetti. Even I knew that you had to cook the pasta properly...

"I'm not a good cook!" he protested. "How was I suppose to know if the pasta was ready or not?"

But...That was basic knowledge, Luke... Ah, I shouldn't rub it in, he wasn't a good cook but...the pasta...!

"My, this was done pretty badly..." Jade spoke up. I choked on my pasta as I turned away from him. I placed my plate on my lap as I coughed, trying to get the dry pasta out of my throat. In between my coughing, I heard Luke made a gagging noise before lowering his plate. I fanned myself since I was probably red from the coughing.

"When did you...!"

"From my post, obviously," Jade answered casually. He twirled the pasta with the fork. Jade lifted the fork up as the light from the fire gleamed on his glasses. "Where else could I have come from?"

Luke opened his mouth to say something else but he ended up huffing before eating his pasta. I stifled a grin before turning my attention back onto the spaghetti. Luke and Guy had entered in their own conversation with the occasional Ion jumping in here and there. Tear and Jade ate in silence and I noticed that Jade was constantly glancing in my direction. I looked away each time we made eye contact.

Awkward much...?

I ended up sitting along with Ion as the two of us listen to Luke and Guy talk to each other about Guy's travels. Luke had also popped the question of Guy teaching him some sword moves in which Guy had to casually decline saying that his style is much different than Van's. I was trying to think of something to say since I wanted to thank Luke for carrying me. For some reason, I didn't think thanking him while he was enjoying this conversation would end well. I should thank him later.

* * *

"Why do I have to come with you to do dishes?" Luke sighed as he trailed behind me. I laughed, looking behind me to see his face. He had a bored expression on his face and both of his hands were behind his head.

Earlier, I had volunteered to do the dishes. I had also asked them to let me bring Luke along since I wanted to thank him for carrying me despite his complaints. Of course Luke complained but with everybody's urgings, he eventually gave in...reluctantly. I had apologized multiple times for dragging him along. He still didn't take it too well.

"Really, sorry, Luke." I told him for the umpteenth time. "I just wanted to thank you for earlier."

"If you wanted to thank me then why didn't you say so earlier?" Luke asked. "Jeez, you're wasting my time."

"If I didn't drag you along, what would you have done instead?" I asked him with a grin on my face. I turned around so that he didn't see my face.

"I would have...trained with Guy!"

Uh-huh. Sure you would...

"Thanks, Luke," I said, "for carrying me. I was probably a burden for you but you still carried me regardless. So...thanks."

Luke huffed. "I don't see why Jade didn't carry you. Too old he says. You're his subordinate! He has responsibility over you! Not me! Besides, you're heavy."

The urge to punch him in the face was suppressed.

"Don't collapse on us like that then," Luke told me. "That Jade was pretty hard on you if you just fainted after only a few days of training. Tear had a word with him about that. 'You were too hard on her and now her fatigue caught up to her' is what she said."

I bit my lip from laughing but I ended up snorting a bit. I could imagine Tear putting her hands on her hips as she told Jade those exact words. Jade would have a calm expression as he listen to her, inputting his own opinion if necessary. Ion would be standing a bit away from them as he looked back and forth between the two.

We found ourselves a small stream where we could just wash the dishes in. I dipped the dishes into the stream and began rubbing the sauce and pasta off of the plates with a cloth. Luke sat beside me watching the stream as I cleaned the dishes. I ended up struggling getting the bits of the sauce that had dried on the plate.

"So you made the entire dinner?" I asked him.

"Yeah, with Guy's help," he responded. "Guy said it was a good idea to try something different while I still had the chance." He sighed. "I never want to cook again. It's too much work to make a meal. I can't wait to get back to the manor."

You haven't seen Natalia's cooking, Luke. After that, you would most definitely cook even if your life depended on it. I dipped the pot into the stream, letting the water soak up the entire thing. I remember doing this at home. The sauce was already sticking to the stainless steel; it was always hard to scrap it off if it was just dipped into the water. I smiled to myself as I dipped the cloth into the stream, lightly scraping whatever was moist in the pot. I listened to the nice swishing sound from the stream.

"What are you thinking?" I heard him asked me suddenly.

"Hm?" I looked up, my hand that was holding the cloth stopped moving. "What do you mean?"

"You're oddly quiet."

I laughed. "I was just thinking about back home." I stopped as a sudden wave of home sickness hit me. I closed my eyes as I thought about home. I wonder what was going on back home. Did they know I was gone? Was I even gone in the first place? Was time passing by there like it was here? I suddenly felt a sudden rush of anxiety feeling causing me to start crying.

"You're doing it again."

I sniffed, wiping the tears away. "Sorry, what?"

"You never heard a single thing, have you?"

"Sorry, Luke, just thinking of home..." I sniffed once more before putting my mind on the job I was suppose to do. I began washing the pot, the sauce came off really easily but there was some burn marks on the bottom. I rubbed the bottom much harder. "I'm good now."

Luke paused a bit before scoffing. "Home sick, huh? I guess someone would feel a bit upset if they thought of home."

"Yeah..." I rubbed it a bit harder, lifting the pot up while checking the bottom with my nails. A bit of water from the pot had fell onto my uniform but that was all right, it would dry later. I cast a side-glance at Luke. "Aren't you worried, Luke? About your family, I mean."

Luke just stared at the water, he stood up abruptly. He was staring at something in front of him making me rather confused before he said, "Are you done with that?"

I blinked twice before staring at the pot. "A-ah, yeah." I put the dishes back into the Wing Pack before standing up and following Luke back to the camp. A smile was spread across my face.

Luke...you were worried about your family. You just didn't want to admit it.

He was a good child.

* * *

After we had returned to the campsite, I noticed that Jade was already gone back to his post. Now that I thought about it...Guy and Jade were the only ones that had been doing the watch lately. Jade aside, wasn't Guy ever tired...?

Anyway, I was making my way over to where Jade was. The old geezer was giving me the weird old geezer look during dinner. I just had to ask him about that. His eyes were looking at me as if he was trying to figure me out. Hadn't I already told him enough? Apparently not...!

I found Jade standing in an open field, staring at the moon with his hands in his pockets. There was a slight evening breeze causing a nice rustle sound amongst the leaves. The moon was very illuminant; it was a full moon this evening. I wonder...I recalled that Auldrant had more days per year than Earth does. Does the moon cycle twice around the world or does it just cycle twice as long?

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't just stand there and marvel at my back." Jade's voice suddenly took me out of my thinking. I rolled my eyes before walking up to him, stopping right at his side.

Seriously, does this man have a built-in human radar? As in anybody that comes within this much distance, he immediately detects their presence. Or was he picked on when he was younger so that he knew someone was in his radius? No, I couldn't imagine Jade being picked on; rather _he_ would be the one _doing_the picking.

"Is there a reason why you are here?" he asked me. I might as well get to the point with him.

"Earlier you were watching me," I said, "why?"

"Why my lieutenant colonel suddenly collapsed earlier," he responded casually. Somehow I sense sarcasm in that tone. "Why shouldn't I be worried?"

I sighed. Yep, that was sarcasm. "Seriously, Jade, why were you watching me?"

I looked up at him to find that he was giving me a really calm stare. Those crimson eyes of his had an eerie glow to them. Especially at night.

"You haven't been feeling well these past few days, have you?" he asked, turning his gaze towards the moon. Jade pushed his glasses up in a very thoughtful manner.

"Actually," I paused, trying to see where he was going with this. "I felt perfectly fine every day. Except for being tired, that's basically it." I glowered at him. "Why?"

"I have an interesting hypothesis," he answered. "Since you were not from Auldrant, and from a world in which fonons are non-existant, I believe fonons were acting like a pathogen towards your body. As of a result, your innate immune system immediately tries to fend them off causing your body to be stressed due to the constant exposure and, eventually, you would collapse."

In the words of Lloyd: I get it but I don't at the same time... I twisted my face as I tried to wrap my head around it. "Meaning...?"

This caused Jade to heave a sigh. "Don't that university of yours teach you anything about biology?"

I pointed to myself. "Math major. I haven't touch Bio since high school."

"Regardless of when you have taken it, you should still hold some information about it." Jade pushed his glasses up. "I suppose not. You are aware that everything here is composed of fonons and elements. To your body, fonons is considered as a virus even though it is potentially harmless unless in large quantities."

"And since it thinks the fonons are viruses, the immune system starts working." I nodded, following along. Food had fonons in them. That made sense. "As long as I'm not exposed to large quantities of them I should be fine." My brow furrowed. "But that doesn't make sense. I was feeling fine the last few days, why now?"

"Healing," he answered simply. "You received large quantities of Seventh Fonons as Tear healed you today."

I did felt very sick after she healed me so that was very plausible. "So my body would constantly fight of the fonons? Do I seriously need a medication? Cause that would suck. I hate drugs."

"No, that won't be necessary," Jade responded. "The fonons will fuse with your cells and your body will adapt with them in time. How long that will take will depend. Though I suggest large exposure to fonons like healing artes would cause you to lose consciousness."

"Try not to get hurt or risk another collapse, got it."

"And refrain from saying this to anyone."

"That, too."

* * *

We arrived at Fubras River by nightfall two days later. Everyone thought it was best if we rested that night before entering the area; apparently monsters were more violent in areas like the Fubras River at night. Well, gee, what would you expect from a dungeon?

Just when the sun rose from the horizon, we had already entered Fubras River and the area looked pretty nice! In comparison to the Cheagle Woods, that is.

Fubras River had a lot of green grass like the Cheagle Woods. At least this dungeon doesn't have green things everywhere unlike the Cheagle Woods. Fubras River was surrounded by large rocks that had aged quite considerably. As its name states, there was a river, parted into many small streams by either rocks or land. There was a large wooden gate for passage and let's not forget, it was infested by a variety of monsters. Most of them should be water based since it was a river dungeon.

After Luke had abused Mieu, he received some scolding from Tear and an insult from Jade. With that, we moved passed the entrance. We had also encountered a couple of Chirpees, which was quickly taken down by Luke and Guy. Jade had kept his eye on Luke during the entire battle, which meant that he was planning something.

"Luke, wait just a moment," Jade spoke up after Luke sheathed his sword. The redhead turned around with an irritated face.

"What is it, oh great leader?" he asked, sarcasm was evident in his tone.

"Luke!" Tear had her hands on her hip, ready for another scolding. Jade, who held out an arm in front of her, stopped her.

"I've been watching you fight." Jade said, after pushing his glasses up. "It appears you don't have a firm grasp on proper fonon use."

Luke appeared more puzzled that irritated. He huffed, waving a hand at Jade. "Using fonons is what fonists do. I don't need to worry about that." He turned around, about to continue walking before Jade sighed.

"Did you Master teach you nothing but brute force?" Jade taunted. Tear sighed, placing her hand against her forehead while Luke whipped around. He jabbed a left finger at Jade.

"Don't make fun of Master Van! He didn't teach me that stuff because I don't need it."

"Luke, you sounded extremely childish there." Tear pointed out.

"Very," I agreed, nodding my head.

"Will you two stop picking on me?"

"Whatever the case, you don't know how to use fonons in battle, correct?" Jade asked, moving on. He walked up to Luke with his hands behind his back. "In that case, I'd like you to learn so you can fight more efficiently."

"Why the hell should I bother?" Luke sighed, irritably.

"Luke, this man is a professional." Guy patted Luke's shoulder. "If you want to survive, you should listen to what he has to say."

Luke scoffed, looking away. "Yeah, a professional killer."

"Why, thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment!"

"Oh, how convenient," Jade spoke up, changing the subject completely. He took out his weapon as he was looking in another direction. "There's a monster. I'll teach you during a real battle."

"Wha-" Luke started to ask. However, Jade had already threw his spear at the monster, missing it by an inch. Actually, it looked like he intentionally missed. The monster, which looked like a Spheal from Pokémon except uglier, jumped up and down in irritation. It began hopping towards us while Jade nodded in approval.

"Well, then, now that it has its attention on us," he looked at Guy and I. "Guy, Anh, keep it busy as I explain how the fonons and Fields of Fonons work to Luke."

Guy sighed, not drawing his sword. Instead, he drew the sword along with its sheath. "You should had explain it to him _before_ you attacked it, Jade."

"Too late," I laughed, taking out my rifle. "We could just bash it around as Jade tutors Luke."

Instead of running towards the monster, we just knelt down pushing or poking and, if necessary, smacking the monster if it came to close.

"So you already heard about fields of fonon?" Guy asked as he lightly poked the monster. It didn't stop its assault as it opened its mouth and covered the end of his sheath. I sighed, standing up. I flipped my rifle so that I was holding the other end. The monster began trashing about as I readied myself into position.

"Hold still, you." I told it as I took a golfing position. Guy just held his sheath out while the monster continued trashing. "I already know about the Fields of Fonons...!" I stressed the last part since I swung my rifle, it was an amateur swing since I hadn't golfed before, smacking the monster into a rock wall. Well...At least I smacked it.

"That was a pretty bad swing," Guy laughed as the monster got back up and began working its way back at us.

"Oh shut up, Guy," I muttered. I looked behind me to see that they had already gotten to the FOF part. Tear had casted a circle of a faint green colour with Luke in the center. I turned around to see that Guy was making circles around the monster. It was hopping in one place trying to find a chance to attack him. "There're almost done, Guy!"

"Good to hear!" he called back to me.

"Aren't you getting dizzy?"

"Not at all."

Oh look. Ugly Spheal monster used Rollout. Guy dodged. Ugly Spheal monster's attack missed. Guy used Taunt. It was very effective. Wait, why was I thinking about Pokémon all of a sudden?

"Hey, you two!" I heard Luke shout at Guy and I. "Move out of the way!"

I stood clear from Luke while Guy lured the Ugly Spheal monster, which still doesn't have a proper name yet, towards Luke. Luke was already standing in the middle of the circle and when the monster reached the circle, he used an altered arte. Luke slashed the monster twice before jumping into the air where a ball of electricity appeared above the monster. It released a massive amount of lightning on the monster and Luke did a mid-air somersault, bringing his sword down to the monster and finishing it off.

Luke straightened himself, his eyes lit up like a child's face. "Whoa! That was cool!"

Jade nodded. "You will have a much better advantage in battle if you use the Fields of Fonons as well. Learn to use them."

Luke nodded as he sheathed his sword. "Did you see that, Guy? That was cool!"

Guy laughed, "Well, now you know about Fields of Fonons. We should give a name for that arte you had just used."

"I want to add a phrase before the attack to it like: Feel thunder! or something like that." Luke pretend to swing an invisible sword to it. "What should I name it? I used Fang Blade with a Wind Field of Fonon so I think it should be Lightning Fang Blade. How's that?"

Uh...no. If he named it like that, I wouldn't stop laughing. Feel thunder! Lightning Fang Blade!

...Yeah, no.

"I don't like it," I said out loud. Luke shot a glare towards my direction. "I've seen you use Fang Blade before and that attack was a little different from Fang Blade."

"I agree with Anh," Ion spoke up. "I think it's better if you name it differently than what you already know and used."

"They both have a point, Luke," Guy patted his back. "That move looked a lot like a combination between Fang Blade and Tiger Blade. I'm leaning towards the Tiger Blade side so, Lightning Tiger Blade." Guy paused a bit, one hand underneath his chin. A slow smile spread across his face. "I like that. It has a nice ring to it."

Luke immediately soften his gaze towards Guy. "So I should go: Feel thunder! Lightning Tiger Blade!" His eyes widened as a smile spread across his face. "Hey, I like that, too! I wonder what other cool artes I can get?"

"I'm sure you three are having fun naming artes, but we really must be going," Jade spoke up, interrupting our fun.

Luke huffed. "Geez, leave it to you to ruin all the fun."

Needless to say, his line caused Ion, Guy and I to laugh. We got the complaining, grumpy Luke again.

* * *

Too much water was in the Fubras River. We had to tread through plenty of water to get to the other side. When we had just arrived to the place, the water was as deep as the heels, now...now the water was goes far as my knee as we tread through the water. My leggings were getting wet...! I felt water splashing into my boots causing my toes to go cold. It also added a really nasty feeling since my socks had also got soaked in the process. I could almost hear the _squish squish _sound coming from them. Ewwww...! I was surprised not to hear any complaints coming from Luke.

"Argh! The water is making my legs cold!"

Nevermind... I take what I said back...

"It's already soaking my jacket, my back's starting feel cold, my feet feels frozen...! Can we rest?"

"If Fon Master Ion can handle the cold, so can you." Came Tear's reply.

"I don't need an opinion from a person who can't feel anything!"

"You kept complaining that you want to head back to Baticul sooner," Tear pointed out. "If we keep on resting at your every suggestion, we'd be taking months before we reach there. Is that what you want, Luke?"

Luke huffed, turning away. "You're always a cold hearted witch."

"At least I'm not whining or spouting idiocy."

"Who's whining, witch?" Luke shouted, completely turning around almost as if he was challenging her to a duel or something. Water splayed on parts of my clothes thanks to his turn. I sighed, irritably as I looked behind me. Tear was looking away, not bothering to answer his question.

"Calm down, Luke!" Guy told him. "On the other side of Fubras River is Kaitzur. You'll be home sooner than you think. Just be patient a little longer, will you?"

"I get it, Guy," Luke yanked on his pants, giving them a displeased look. "If I get soaked anymore than this, I'll catch a cold soon."

"Hang in there, Master!" Mieu chirped up as the we walked closer to land.

"I thought I told you to shut up!" Luke snapped at the cheagle on Ion's shoulder. "While we're doing the walking, you're sitting on his shoulder all dry! How about I make you wet, too?" He walked over to Ion, attempting to reach for the cheagle. Mieu immediately cowered on Ion's shoulder and jumped to the nearest one, which happened to be mine.

"But Master...! I can't swim!"

"Luke, leave Mieu alone!" I told him.

"Shut up! I'm teaching him a lesson!" Luke attempted to reach for Mieu again, but this time, I was helping Mieu.

"Hand over the cheagle, Anh!"

"You're just going to abuse him some more!" I started to run away from him, he was following me in hot pursuit. Ugh...I couldn't run very fast. Luke would catch up to me in no time. He did. Mieu and I fell into the river with Luke right behind us. He grabbed Mieu and thrust him into the water. Mieu was struggling in his grip as Luke thrust him into the water. He managed to run up Luke's arm for safety but Luke was quick as he grabbed the cheagle and began pushing him back into the water. This repeated a good number of times. As Mieu ran up Luke's sleeve, he splashed fair bit of water flew to Luke's face, adding more oil to the fire.

"Dammit, Luke, leave him alone!" I shouted, trying to pull his arms away from Mieu.

"Luke, stop!" Tear called to him. "Can't you see Mieu is completely terrified? And stop yelling! Both of you!"

"Let go of him, Luke!"

"_You_ let go of _me_!"

"Are you two even listening to me?" Tear asked us, loudly.

"Please stop this," Ion begged. "We really should just move on."

"Come on, Luke, release Mieu," Guy called to him over our shouting. "If you both keep this up, the monsters could hear your screaming and attack us."

"Enough, the both of you," Jade spoke up. "At this rate, the monsters not only heard you but they are making their way towards here." There was a small pause before he continued. His tone was completely different and serious now. "Now look what you have done. There's a monster swimming towards you both."

Luke stopped trying to soak Mieu as he stood up frantically, I did the same as he did. The both of us was standing in the water, trying to find the shadow of the monster.

"What? Where?" Luke asked, sounding a bit terrified.

Mieu scampered out of Luke's hand and he jumped into my arms as I took a few steps behind Luke. If the monster was to attack someone, it should be the one closest to it. Assuming that Luke was the closest person to the monster. We found the shadow of the monster, it was a thin shadow but it was definitely there. Luke slowly reached for his weapon, pulling it out to face it.

"Luke!" I heard Guy from behind.

"Don't move!" Tear told us, sternly. "If you stay still, it probably would move on."

Uh...Tear...You were wrong about that part. The shadow came closer to us and I held my breath to see what the monster was. Was it going to be one of those ugly Spheal-looking monster or was it going to be a giant tortoise? Just when I thought it was in a good enough range to attack us, a fish jumped out of the water. I exhaled. And my heart was beating madly just then.

"Oh, my mistake, it was just a fish." Jade said, lightly.

Luke squeaked a bit before directing his anger towards Jade. "What was that all about?"

It turned out that Jade freaked us out for nothing. Tear's face said it all, she had a sympathetic look on her face while Mieu sighed in relief. Guy laughed, nervously, as did Ion.

"You shouldn't pull that kind of joke, Jade..." Guy walked over to Luke and patted his shoulder. "You could give us a heart-attack if you keep that up."

Jade pushed his glasses up. "It's to let those two learn that we should be quiet in monster infested areas like this." His face brightened up, and it was very teasing. "Now then, let's be on our way."

Guy's expression had a very nervous look. "How can you say stuff like that?"

"At least no one is hurt," Ion pointed out.

* * *

We had already trekked through half of the River. We had to stop and make camp in the middle of the dungeon since it was pretty much close to sunset. Jade had found a good area to camp, which was basically a flat land, surrounded by huge rocks except for one opening. It was a pretty good idea since whoever was suppose to watch over the camp can just focus on the strip of land where the monsters were probably going to appear.

Tear and Jade had already started a fire while I pulled out the Wing Pack, taking out the necessary utensils for tonight's chef, which would probably be Jade. Guy and Luke had both cooked, and those two were sword practicing. There was a lot of grunting and sword clashing between the two. I even heard this coming from Luke.

"Lightning Tiger Blade!" I heard him shout. Most likely he was trying the move. I rolled my eyes as I pulled out the knives. Luke still had a long way to go.

"Dammit! I thought it would work after I used it the first time!"

This time, Guy laughed. "Luke... Even after you used it the first time, the key part of that move was the Field of Fonon. It has to be present in order for you to use it."

"Why didn't that Jade tell me?" he shouted, indignant.

Jade chuckled. "I thought he knew. Apparently not."

"Indeed." Tear muttered. "He takes simplicity to a new level." She walked over to Ion, who was watching the fire dance. Tear patted his shoulder causing him to look up. There was a look of concern in Tear's eyes. "How are you feeling, Fon Master Ion?"

"Oh, I'm fine, thank you." Ion gave her a gentle smile that brought a soft gaze from the melodist. Jade's eyes narrowed dangerously at Ion while Tear nodded.

"That's good."

"Hey, Jade, kitchen's ready for you" I called to him. He tore his eyes from Ion and nodded. He stood up and walked over to the set-up kitchen while I stood up with a few towels in hand. He raised his eyes in interest.

"And what are those for?" he asked.

"A bath. You said monsters are more active at night so I thought it would be better if Tear and I bathe before it gets dark." I told him before making my way to Tear. "Tear, let's go bathe while it's still light out."

Tear looked at me, rather surprised. She lowered her gaze, which shifted towards Ion. "But, Fon Master Ion..."

"It's okay," Ion spoke up. "You should go enjoy yourself, while you have a chance. Besides, Jade can look after me."

"If you insist..." Tear replied hesitantly. She stood up, taking a towel from me. "We won't be gone for very long."

"Have fun." Ion told us before we left. Just before we were about to leave for the river, Guy and Luke had just finished training with each other and was returning. They both looked at the towels before looking up at us.

"Going somewhere?" Guy asked.

I nodded, pointing towards the river and a bunch of rocks. "Tear and I are going to be bathing over there. You guys make sure you stay away from us."

"And yet you're bringing Mieu?" Luke questioned, pointing to the cheagle at our feet. Mieu hid behind Tear with a small '_myuu_'. Tear shot a glare at Luke.

"Mieu's fine," Tear said. "He doesn't know any better. Let's go before it gets dark, Anh."

I let Mieu crawl up my arm and onto my shoulder before I followed behind Tear. I turned around sending those two an 'I'm watching you' signal. If those two ever peeked at us, it was going to be roast for dinner.

* * *

The water was just right, not too hot nor was it too cold. If we had waited any longer, the water could have gotten really cold. I leaned against the cold rock, staring up at the orange sky filled with pale clouds. I never got to see nice scenery like this; it was definitely a memory to remember. I had a cloth floating in front of me while the towel I brought was set next to my clothes to dry myself. I looked down at the water, staring at my own reflection. I scooped up some water and splashed it on my face before wiping it away. I leaned back onto the rock, crossing my arms.

Mieu was on a small rock, playing with the water in front of him. He seemed fascinated with it despite the fact that he couldn't swim. There was just one more thing missing around here.

"Tear! How long are you going to undress?" I asked her. I hadn't heard anything from her since we got here. She told me to go ahead and she would catch up but I hadn't heard from her after that. I heard footsteps coming closer to me, and I saw Tear, with a towel wrapped around her as well, walking towards the river with a red hue on her face. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail and one hand was covering her chest while another hand held her clothes, and a pack of throwing daggers laying on top of them.

I stared at the daggers with a raised eyebrow. "You know...you didn't have to bring your daggers."

"You can never tell if those guys are actually looking." She said, setting the clothes and daggers behind Mieu. She dipped her hand into the water, testing it. After that she dipped herself into the water, rubbing a bit of water on her arm. She looked at me and then covered her breasts. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Oh come on, I can't marvel at the size of your boobs?" I grinned at her. "Mine's small in comparison to yours. I would kill to have your boobs."

Tear's face turned even redder. "C-can we not talk about this?"

"Why? It's just girls talking about boobs. There's nothing wrong with that." I laughed, looking away. "But if you don't want to talk about that, that's all right."

There was a silence between us as Tear continued rubbing water onto her skin. After a while, she spoke up, "The water feels good."

"Yeah," I sighed. "We haven't bathe for a while. It's good to do that every now and then, whenever we have the chance. Have some girl talk."

"Girl talk?"

I closed my eyes and scoffed a bit. "Right, you were raised as a soldier. Of course you never hang out with just normal girls." I opened my eyes, looking at the somewhat purple sky. "What is there to talk about?"

Tear opened her mouth to say something but she stopped. Her eyes turned serious as she looked back. Her eyes widened as she reached for Mieu.

"Duck!" she shouted, as I did as I was told. Something flew above our heads and landed right across from us, splashing a great deal of water over us.

It turned out to be a frog monster as it rose to the surface. It glowered at us dangerously, bubbles rising from where its mouth was. There was a sound of croaking, befitting the frog monster. I heard Tear shouting at me to get out of the water, in which I never hesitated to do so. The minute I did, the frog jumped at me and a dagger flew into its mouth. The frog made gagging noises before it fell back into the water. Its back was keeping it afloat but it was most definitely dead.

Tear sighed in relief. "Thank goodness, we should head bac-" Her sentence was cut off when she reached for her dagger. "Who's there?"

Guy ran into view, "There was a Ribbit going through here..." His voice dropped as he saw us in our state. He looked away as he pointed to Tear. She looked between her and she and I covered her exposed breasts as her face turned extremely red. I screamed as Tear grabbed a towel while Guy, paralyzed by the shouting, tried to think of something. He was waving his hands in front of him. I searched for a rock, and ended up finding a pebble. It was better than nothing so I picked it up and threw it at him. He dodged it.

"I-I didn't see anything! I swear!"

"Guy!" I shouted, grabbing another rock and throwing it at him. "S-stop staring at us!"

"Gah!" he cried, averting his gaze as he dodged the rock. "It would help if you're not throwing rocks at me!" That didn't stop me from throwing a third rock at him.

"Get out of here, Guy! Tear, cast something!"

"D-don't cast! I'm getting out-"

"_Pow Hammer!_"

"Aah!"

There was an awkward silence between us as the both of us stared at the limping body on the ground. The only thing that was heard was the wind playing with the water.

"...Next time we bathe at an inn."

"I'm with you on that, Tear."

* * *

"Naughty, naughty, Guy."

"It wasn't intentional! There was a Ribbit heading towards their direction! What was I suppose to do? Let them deal with it? I didn't know they had a weapon with them!"

We didn't tell them what happened at the river until later in the morning when Guy was constantly repeating 'women are scary, women are scary' that evening. After Tear Pow Hammer'd him, I gave him a couple slaps of my own. We got dressed and dragged him back to the camp, each holding an arm. Obviously that brought Guy to an extremely terrified state. Neither of us spoke about it during dinner, Tear and I ate in silence and in anger, refusing to say anything.

It wasn't until morning that Mieu told Luke a little bit of it. He then questioned us and Jade heard about it and he, too, joined in. The entire story was told to them, the part where the monster showed up, Tear finishing it, and Guy coming in.

"It's not his fault that they were bathing and the monster showed up," Luke defended Guy.

"Well, it was his fault for lingering." Tear countered.

"It's not Guy's fault!"

I rubbed my temple. Why were we going through the 'whose fault it was?' transition? It happened, there's no need to go on about it any further.

"Please settle down," Ion begged. "What's done is done. Can't we just let this go?"

"Ion's right," I sighed. "Besides, it's Guy. I'm sure he learnt his lesson. Isn't that right, Guy?" I turned to him to give him a smile. Guy recoiled a bit, and I frowned. He probably thought of the wrong idea from that smile. I sighed once more. "...Guy..."

"That Anise girl is by herself, right?" Guy asked, changing the subject. "Is she okay going through here herself? I mean with all the monsters and such."

"I wouldn't worry about Anise," Jade spoke up. "This is Anise we're talking about."

"It's Anise, she'll be fine." Ion gave Guy a smile. I nodded.

"Anise is Anise, she'll do just fine by herself."

Guy made a face. "R-really...? That's good to hear." He gave us a smile but it wasn't a reassuring one.

I could hear him now. 'Just who is this Anise?' would be what he would be thinking right now. Yeah, he would definitely find her really scary when he meets her. Something growled menacing which stopped us in our tracks. Everybody pulled out their weapons as they scanned the area for the source of the growl.

"It's coming from your left, Tear," Jade told her. Tear nodded, pulling out her dagger and throwing it towards her left like she was told. The dagger flew in between two rocks and a large yellow blur dodged the dagger and landed not too far from us. It looked very similar to the liger queen except it was much smaller than her and it had yellow fur with dark purple strips going through it. Like the liger queen, it had silver eyes that glowed in hatred.

"It's a liger," Tear confirmed the monster. The liger continued to growl at us as it circled around us, still keeping an eye on us. As it moved away, behind it was Arietta the Wild. She approached us, gripping her voodoo doll closer. Hatred was seen in her eyes.

"It's Arietta the Wild. They found us..." Guy muttered. His expression was very upset as he looked at us. Jade kept a cool gaze, his attention was mostly on the liger that was already behind us.

"I won't let you get away." Arietta told us.

Ion pushed his way towards her, his staff lightly tapped the ground. "Arietta! Please, let us go. You understand, don't you? We can't let this war happen."

Arietta's gaze was warm towards Ion as she shifted her feet nervously. "Ion... I...I want to help you, Ion..." She glared at the rest of us. "But those people are my enemies!"

Ion lightly tilted his head to the side. "Arietta, they aren't bad people."

She lowered her doll so that her mouth wasn't covered by it. "Yes...Yes they are! They killed Mommy!"

"What are you talking about?" Luke asked her. "When did we ever do something like that?"

"Mommy's home was burned, so she moved into the Cheagle Woods..." Arietta started to explain. "She was just trying to protect her children... My brothers and sisters..."

Tear gasped. "Could she mean the liger queen? But... She's human."

Ion turned his head towards Tear. "She was raised by monsters, the liger queen to be more exact, after losing her parents in the Hod War," he explained. "She was recruited for the Oracle Knights because of her ability to communicate with monsters."

Luke's eyes widened as Mieu back away from Arietta. "Then the liger we killed was..."

Arietta dropped one of her arms, pointing a finger at us. "That was Mommy! I'll never forgive you! Especially you!" Her finger went towards me. "I won't forgive you ever! You killed my siblings!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, chill," I told her. "Why single me out for your siblings? You know, there are three more that also did the killing. Where's the proof that I killed your siblings?"

"You want proof?" she asked me, holding something in her hand. "Then here's your proof!" She threw whatever was in her hand towards me and it was deflected by Tear. A loud metal sound was heard before it clinked onto the ground and rolled harmlessly towards us.

What Arietta threw at us was the shell of the bullet I used during the battle with the liger queen. It was the one where it flew past the liger queen and knocked a branch off, killing the fetuses in the eggs that was below it. I knew that pretty well since I told myself to pick it up after the battle. I was so caught up with the conversation and the arrest that I totally forgot about it and had left it there.

Well...this day was getting better by the minute.

...Not...

* * *

**About the Pokémon reference, yes I know that was not what Taunt does. Actually, in one of the other Pokémon games, the move Taunt makes a Pokémon to be 'Taunted' which meant the taunted Pokémon has to keep attacking. Like the monsters were defending in the first place. (sarcasm)**

**You may have noticed that there's no level restrictions on the characters. I'm already aware that Guy learns Tiger Blade at level 27 but come on...it's a base arte.**

**Review~! It makes my day. And I'll try to update faster, but no guarantees.**

**Which reminds me...I just recently beat a certain blond person from ToA in Tales of Hearts and is now in possession of his vest. WHO WANTS GUY'S VEST? First to review will get it! And I also have Yuri's (Tales of Vesperia) bangle and Luca's (Tales of Innocence) sword, too! :D Those three are up for dips.**

**See you all in the next chapter!**


	13. Chapter 12: Miasma and the Antihero

**Don't know what to say right now. Second year university...Yay. When I hear about Applied Math, I thought it was going to be easy.**

**...Guess not...**

**I've noticed something...Being a math major, it really takes up time on FFN. That and I lack a computer. But the main reason why updates are going to be a lot slower is that I'm back into the math mind and not longer in the typing mind. One day, I was like: Okay, let's type this! and then went all 'duuhhh' halfway through. ^^; Thank you so much, math. No I will not switch majors. I love math with a passion! :D**

**Wait that sounded wrong…**

**I thank Mieu for editing it as well as inputting some of her opinion to some parts~ **

**Also! Guy's vest goes to Ginga no Yousei! Loy gets Yuri's Bangle. Sorry, Luca, no one likes your big ass broadsword. XD**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Hearts. If I did I would put Zelos as a cameo- Wait...Wrong game... I don't own ToA.**

**

* * *

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**Chapter 12: Miasma and the Anti-hero**

"I will chase you to the ends of the earth and kill you!" Arietta threatened.

Note to self: Never. EVER. Leave evidence for potential hatred. Arietta probably hates me more than Anise. Actually, when I think about it, no. She would hate Anise more than me. She was, after all, the God-General that opposed Anise. Speaking of opposition, do I get someone that opposes me? Jade had Dist, Tear had Legretta, Luke had Asch, Anise had Arietta, Natalia had Largo, and Guy had Sync. Unless Sync opposes Ion, would that make Van oppose Guy? Ugh, too much thinking.

In any case, I seriously hoped I don't have someone that opposed me.

Any who, back on to the topic at hand. Arietta started mumbling on her own as she lifted her voodoo doll. Tear readied herself for the attack.

"She's casting!" she cried out.

Arietta was just about to finish her spell but a large earthquake interrupted her. Losing her concentration as well as her balance, she fell to the ground with a soft grunt. She wasn't the only one that fell. I fell onto my butt as I looked around to find something stable to hold on to. Ion was lucky since he found Jade, who, although appeared shocked, didn't seem to mind the quake at all. Everyone else had somewhat decent balance.

"This is bad," Jade spoke up, sounding ridiculously calm and unfazed, "it's an earthquake."

"Try sounding more concerned than calm!" Guy stated, hastily. He was right, Jade! Sound like you were more concerned!

"But I am concerned, Guy."

Argh! No point in arguing with Jade right now. As the earthquake ensued, parts of the ground began to shift and purple mist shot out from those gaps. Oh lovely, poison.

"That aside, what's that mist?" Guy asked as a few more bursts of miasma shot out from a few more gaps.

Well! It was definitely not perfume, Guy. Definitely. Bad time to make a sarcastic comment so I kept that thought to myself.

"This is miasma!" Tear explained to Guy. I heard Ion gasped as Mieu ran up into his arms for safety.

"Oh no! The miasma is deadly poison."

And just to prove his point, a large amount of it was sprayed right onto the liger's face, causing it to collapse. Arietta, too, was another example. Just as she was about to back up, she had also inhaled the miasma and she fell to the ground, unconscious.

"This stuff kills you if you breathe it?" Luke asked, examining the unconscious beast and person.

No, if you inhale the miasma, you'll start hallucinating about flower fields. I mentally slapped myself. I was full of sarcastic comments at this moment, but it would all be best if I just kept them to myself. Yeah, definitely keep them to myself.

"If you don't inhale a large amount over a long period of time, you'll be okay." Tear told Luke. She walked over to Ion to steady him. "Let's get out of here bef-" Ion gasped, causing Tear to see what or who he was gasping to.

The ground around Arietta, who was still lying unconscious on the ground, started to sink. And not only that, the ground beneath us was also sinking. Not as fast as Arietta's but still…

"Now what do we do?" Luke asked, holding onto Guy. "We can't get away...!"

That caused Tear to sigh. I would sigh, too, if I was in her place. We were on sinking land; I was still on my butt since I had never experienced an earthquake before. My heart was thumping madly and I, for sure, knew I couldn't get up and about during an earthquake. Tear began casting something as a fonic glyph appeared below her.

"Fonic hymns at a time like this?" Jade questioned Tear when he recognized what she was about to cast.

"_Kuroa Ryuo Zue Toue Ryuo Rei Neu Ryuo Zue._"

"Wait, Jade!" Ion pleaded. "That song...it's one of Yulia's Fonic Hymns!"

There was a much larger fonic glyph underneath us as a barrier-like field surrounded us before a bright light replaced the barrier. I closed my eyes while covering them with my sleeve as the blinding light nearly blinded me. Once I was completely sure that the light was gone, I lowered my sleeve only to find the colour of everything a bit disoriented. I rubbed my eyes and blinked once more as they adjusted. I also took deep breaths to calm my rapidly beating heart.

Well…that was my first experience of an earthquake. I definitely do _not_ want to experience that again.

"The miasma disappeared!" I heard Guy say as I stood up. He sounded quite surprised.

"I've applied a vibration identical to the inherent vibration of the miasma," Tear explained, lowering her weapon. "It's a temporary shield, though, so it won't last long. We should get out of here while we still have the chance."

"The seven fonic hymns left behind by Yulia... I'd heard rumors of them, but..." Jade paused a bit as his gaze narrowed on Tear. "I heard that they were too difficult for anyone to decipher."

"Worry about that later. We need to get out of here." Guy pointed out. "If we keep worrying about trivial things we're not going to make any progress."

"I agree, but first." Jade turned towards Arietta's unconscious figure as he whipped out his weapon. He approached her, and aimed the pointy tip of his spear at least one meter above her heart.

"Jade! Please spare her!" Ion pleaded taking one step closer to him. Tear held him back, however, since it would be a smart thing to kill her now.

"Hey! Stop!" Luke shouted, grabbing Jade's arm. "Why do you have to kill her?"

Jade turned to Luke, his face was expressionless and devotedly calm. "If we let her live, she'll come after us again."

"How can you kill someone unconscious and defenseless?" Luke asked him, his face was irked.

Tear sighed. "You really are soft..."

Luke turned towards her, looking like he was this close to biting her head off. "Shut up, you cold-"

"Jade, please let her go," Ion pleaded once more. "Arietta was originally one of my Fon Master Guardians."

Jade paused for an uncomfortable amount of time. He then allowed his weapon to return to his arm as he turned around. He cast a small glance back at Arietta before pushing his glasses up and walking a few steps away from her. "...Very well."

Ion sighed in relief. "Thank you, Jade."

"And I, too, would like to thank you, Jade." A new feminine voice spoke up. Everybody appeared tense as the projector of that voice revealed herself. Standing right behind Arietta's figure was a woman with long wavy silver hair and calm light green eyes. She had a slim figure and there was two daggers attached to a belt and the sheaths were located on her back. She wore a dark sleeveless Oracle Knight uniform with yellow embroidery and underneath that sleeveless uniform was a long white sleeved shirt. She wore white pants and boots that go up to her knees and they matched the coloured portion of her uniform.

How colourful of her... Black and white with a hint of yellow.

"Why are you here?" Jade asked, calmly. It caused the woman to grin. Deviously, I must add.

"Is that always the first thing to say to someone you haven't seen for a while, Jade?" she asked, still holding her grin. She crossed her arms as she gave a light shrug. "I have been informed that Arietta had disappeared so I came searching for her. Don't worry; I'm only here to pick her up. Nothing more or less." Her gaze went to Ion before she picked Arietta up and held her in what looked like a princess hold.

"Fon Master." She greeted. Ion inclined his head before she walked past him leaving us without another word.

I was the first to say something. "Okay then..."

"We shouldn't linger any further," Tear sighed. "Questions can be saved for later."

Ion nodded. "Yes, let's go."

* * *

The odd woman that knew Jade was bugging me at the back of my mind. I had so many questions to ask. Who was she? How did she know Jade? How did_ he_ know her? What was her name? Was that hair colour natural? Argh! My Jade fangirl instincts were kicking in. That was bad. I thought I diminished those fangirl instincts and went to being a Guy fangirl. Ugh. Was a Jade fangirl, apparently will stay a Jade fangirl. Guy and short hair version of Luke came in close second. Dammit...!

"Anh!" Tear spoke up. My head snapped up to see Tear right in front of me with both hands on her hips. "Were you even listening?"

"Sorry, Tear," I apologized. "I got carried away. What were you saying?"

She sighed, pressing a hand on her forehead. "The Colonel would like to know something and suggests we camp for now."

My eyebrow rose. "Why? I thought we would camp out later."

"I would like it if we had some distance between us and _her_." Jade spoke up.

"Who is she, by the way?" Luke asked the question I was about to ask. "She knew Jade and she was giving Ion that look."

"Oh, that was Celena. She's the head of the Fon Master Guardians," Ion explained to Luke, happily. I nodded. That made sense- Wait no, it didn't. She was the head of the Fon Master Guardians and she just let Ion _go_? Just like that? _Just_ _like that_?

"If she was the head, why did she just walk off like that?" Guy asked. He was probably thinking of the same question as I was. "She has responsibility over you, Ion, doesn't she?"

"He's right," Tear spoke up. "The Lieutenant is just not that kind of person to just walk away. Why?"

"Probably because she can trust me in Jade's hands?" Ion guessed with a smile.

"I think she's a little too trusting..." I murmured, looking over at Jade. Actually, we all did. Some of us, including myself, were giving him dubious looks, and he, in turn, ignored all of them. He pushed up his glasses. "So...how does this Celena person know you?"

"She must have mistaken me for another Jade," he said, casually with a shrug.

Uh-huh. The another Jade who happened to have the same name with the same hair colour and length, the same eye colour, the same height, the same Malkuth uniform with the Pac man belt and status along with the same sarcastic personality. Uh-huh. There was totally another person just like that.

...He just avoided the subject.

"The Lieutenant aside. Tear, about your fonic hymns," Jade turned his attention towards Tear. "Your fonic hymns are different from the ones I know. And, Ion," He cast a glance at Ion, "you say those are Yulia's fonic hymns."

"So what?" Luke asked in an uninterested tone. He was probably eager to see Master Van so much that he didn't cared for stuff like these. These fonic hymns will save your butt, Luke.

"Yulia's fonic hymns are special," Guy spoke up in a thoughtful tone. He had one hand acting like a support for the arm that had a hand underneath his chin. "Normally, fonic hymns are just the incantation used in a fonic arte, combined with a melody. They're not as strong as fonic artes."

"But Yulia's fonic hymns are different," Ion continued. "They are said to hold the same power as fonic artes."

I laughed internally to myself. The first fonic arte I could think of that held the same power as a fonic arte would be Judgment. Too bad a certain purple clad mercenary couldn't do the incantation. I really liked that 'rest in peace, sinners' talk. Or him with his Japanese seiyuu going all 'Jajimento!' shouts all over the place. Oddly enough, I can hear him chanting both in English and Japanese in my head. Crazy Kratos fangirl fangirling him? Yep. Definitely.

While I was fantasizing about four thousand year old Seraph with blue wings, it seemed the party had moved on from fonic hymns to the topic of descendents. Jade became oddly suspicious about Guy since his knowledge about fonic hymns was pretty great.

"How are you able to sing Yulia's fonic hymns?" Jade asked Tear. He was continuing the subject at hand, but his eyes were focusing on Guy. Tear blinked once.

"I was told that it is because my family is descended from Yulia..." she answered. "I don't know if it's true or not."

Jade paused a bit. He pushed up his glasses with closed eyes. "A descendent of Yulia. I see..."

"So, that means Master Van's a descendent of Yulia, too?" Luke asked. "That's so cool!"

I sighed. He praised Van but not Tear…? Master Van this, Master Van that. If Natalia was most of what Asch would say, then 'Master' Van would be most of what long haired Luke would say.

"Thank you, Tear. I would certainly like the chance learn more about the fonic hymns." A sly grin stretched across his face. "Especially the Grand Fonic Hymn."

"'Grand Fonic Hymn'? What's that?" Luke asked, completely oblivious. It was funny how I would be agreeing with Luke if I hadn't played the game before. Luke was just as stupid as the player on their first playthrough. Assuming that they had never watched the anime nor read about the stuff online.

"The Grand Fonic Hymn is the fonic hymn Yulia sang to use Lorelei's power." Ion explained to Luke. "It is the proof of their covenant."

"We should make camp now," Tear spoke up, quickly changing the subject. She looked at me. "Anh, you're making tonight's dinner, right?"

It felt as if reality had struck me on the face. Crap...! I forgot we had to take turns just to see how well our cooking was. Sandwich lunch, I was completely fine with but now I had to cook...! Where was the Wonder Chef when I really needed him?

* * *

How I wished for the Wonder Chef to suddenly go 'ta-dah!' right in front of me and help me out with the cooking. I stared at the recipe books in front of me. I didn't want to make something we had already tried like the spaghetti and sandwiches but I couldn't come up with something different from the top of my head. Actually, I could. I could make fettuccini alfredo from scratch but...I used prepared sauce instead of making my own. And I remembered I made it once before but what were the ingredients...?

Cheese...cream... There was more to that. It was a nagging thing in the back of my mind! Two ingredients? I don't think so! It sounded like Mac and Cheese to me...! Last time I attempted to make the sauce, it turned into Mac and Cheese because I was lacking some ingredients. That and I made some odd substitution. I clutched my head and ruffled my hair, hoping to get the information out. It was unsuccessful as I continued glaring at the pot in front of me hoping that it would cook something on its own.

It didn't.

The kitchen was set up not too far from the fire in case we needed it. I was deciding to either make sandwiches or make the fettuccini alfredo from the top of my head. Somehow neither of them sounded very appealing. I could make something simple and from the recipe like sandwiches but we had those for lunch almost every day. If I made those, Luke would definitely whine or complain or be long hair Luke-y.

Should I do rice and meat? That was my usual meal back at home and I wasn't a veggie person so that was what I had almost every day. That was bad. Yeah...bad idea.

I crossed my arms as I made my decision. Mac and Cheese was the simplest to make. I made it before but it may or may not go so well since it was from memory. My hand moved to my bag as I searched for the Wing Pack that was in there. I soon felt a cold metal feeling and I knew it was right there. Taking it out, I flipped through the food section to see if there were the ingredients for the Mac and Cheese.

Elbow pasta. Check.

Cheese. Check.

Cream. Check.

Dammit, Wonder Chef, I would hug him if I knew where he was at this moment. We didn't even have to do shopping for ingredients thanks to him. But we were going to run out of ingredients sometime soon.

Never mind that, it was time to cook. I rolled up my sleeves and rubbed my hands together. I grabbed a pot that was already filled with water and walked over to the fire where Mieu and Ion were sitting. I think Tear and Jade were out gathering water for the remainder of the trip while Luke was sparring with Guy or something like that. All I knew was that Luke was with Guy. What they were doing, it was completely guy stuff. I set the pot just above the fire allowing it to boil the water. I turned towards the cheagle on Ion's lap.

"Mieu, can you breathe more fire?" I asked him. "I need to get the water boiled so that the cooking the pasta part comes faster."

"_Myuu!_ Of course, Anh!" Mieu nodded, cheerfully. He hopped out of Ion's arms and blew more fire into the makeshift fire pit. The flames danced around the pot as I heard a piece of wood snapped.

"What's for tonight's dinner?" Ion asked me.

"Mac and Cheese," I answered. I laughed a bit nervously. "I thought I might try something new for a change. But I can't guarantee that it will taste good. It's coming from the top of my head and I haven't cooked in a really, really long time. Hopefully, it doesn't turn out as bad as the grilled cheese sandwich."

It was Ion's turn to laugh. "I think you would do fine. Everybody is good at cooking at something. Even if it was the simplest thing."

Honestly, that shouldn't be applied to those that couldn't cook even if they tried hard enough. Like Natalia or Raine... I slightly smiled at him. "So that means you could cook, too."

"I could cook...if I was given the chance." He laughed a bit. "I can only do some the simple stuff like make sandwiches. Back at Daath, my meals would be prepared by the cooks there. When I was out here with Anise and Jade, Anise would do the cooking."

"Every day?"

I received a nod from Ion. "Every day. She said that she wanted to perfect her cooking. Of course, Jade didn't mind at all."

I started laughing. Of course Jade wouldn't mind. He didn't have to cook for the trip so it was perfect for him. That person could be as lazy he wanted to whenever he wanted to. I covered my mouth a bit. "Yeah, that sounded like him for sure." I paused a bit; the water was already boiling. Now how much pasta should I put in there? I didn't know. I could estimate but what happened if I put too much...?

Screw it. I was putting two small bowls of it in there. I did that the last time I cooked Mac and Cheese. Hopefully, it was enough...I think...

As I poured the pasta into the pot and began stirring it with a wooden spoon, my thoughts went to today's events. "Today was pretty interesting, wasn't it?"

Ion nodded. "I didn't think Arietta would be waiting for us at the Fubras River at all. It kind of surprised me."

"I think it surprised everyone to see her there." I agreed with him. The liger was the one that surprised me the most actually... "Though that miasma is weird. How do you know about it, Ion?"

Ion paused a bit. "That's considered classified information."

I sighed. "There's a lot of classified information from the Order."

"I'm sorry."

I waved a hand in front of him. "Oh no, don't worry about that. Everybody has their own secrets." It was pretty silent between us after so I started on making the sauce for the pasta. Once the cream started to slightly boil, I added the cheese to it. I started stirring the pan to make sure the cheese was completely melted in the cream. I tried a different topic. "We meet Anise at the checkpoint soon."

Ion nodded cheerfully. "Yes. The trip should take at least a week and a half before we reach it but Anise will be there for sure."

"You sound really confident that she's not going to pass that checkpoint without us," I noted at his enthusiasm.

"Well for one thing, she doesn't have her passport," Ion pointed out. "In fact, I don't think any of us have our passports. I mean, I'm sure we didn't have time to pack them during the attack on the Tartarus. I know I don't have mine."

He did have a good point. I wasn't too sure if Jade or Anise were thinking ahead and packed the passport. They must have been lost somewhere on the Tartarus. Though Guy should have his since he said he traveled by land. That meant everybody except him was screwed at the checkpoint.

"Ah I'm hungry...!" I heard Luke whined. I looked up to see Luke and Guy approaching the two of us. Luke was stretching his muscle as he came up to him. He sat on the ground with one elbow on his thigh and his head was being supported by his hand. "Are you even done preparing it yet?"

"I'm almost done," I told him.

"Well, then hurry up!"

"I'm hurrying! Jeez!" I shouted, straining the pasta. "A few minutes is all I ask!"

"Oh? It looks like we arrived just in time," Jade spoke up as he and Tear arrived at the camp.

"It smells good," Tear commented on the meal and that caused me to laugh.

"It's only Mac and Cheese, Tear." I poured the sauce over the pasta, stirred it and clapped my hands proudly as soon as I was finished. "Okay! Dinner's ready! Everybody eat up~!"

"Finally! I was just about to starve here!" Luke murmured as he took his plate of Mac and Cheese.

A few minutes into the meal...

"WHY IS IT SO PLAIN?"

"YOU TOLD ME TO HURRY UP, IDIOT!"

* * *

My cheeks were puffed out as I sat out in the open not too far from the campsite with my legs up to my chest. My arms were resting on top of my knees while my head rested in the crook of my arms. Today was Guy's turn with the dishes; he had left for that while Tear suggested that we do four looks outs instead of the usual two. It was Tear's turn at the moment and I follow shortly after Jade who was second after Tear. I took this opportunity to get a break from the camp and well...sulk for a bit.

In about a week's time, we would meet up with Van and Anise. I wondered...Did he set me up in this? Why was I here in the first place? Does Van know something that had me being here?

I had so many questions and he was the villain of the game. Perhaps he knew something. Or maybe not. For sure my existence wasn't written in Yulia's Score. I don't recall that Celena person being a part of the game either. Nor had the game spoke about a 'head of the Fon Master Guardians'. Or maybe that was just me and not knowing about it all together. At the same time, Celena could exist but she wasn't mentioned in the game. Or! She never existed in the first place and then I came along and threw things off; making her existence there to even things out. But that sounded like I was a god or something. That and it was very illogical.

This was like Schroder's Cat all over again.

I heard someone come up to me from behind, causing me to become more aware of my surroundings. My hand was placed on the small gun in my pouch as I turned around ready to attack him or her. Instead, I found Tear who was calmly staring at me. The moon was shining just behind her giving her a majestic look.

"Tear," I sighed, removing my hand from the pouch. "You scared me for a second there."

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," she stated simply. "You were daydreaming earlier today and you went off on your own just now. Did you realize that you could be attacked by roaming monsters?"

I frowned a bit. It sounded more like scolding instead of checking up on me. "I'm within the radius where the holy bottle was applied so I thought I should be okay. Besides, I still have a lot of time before the effects wear off."

"Theoretically speaking, the holy bottle should last for three or four hours, however, that doesn't mean you can lower your guard." Tear narrowed her eyes at me. "I thought I said there were cases where the monsters still attack travellers even with the holy bottle in effect."

I sighed. There was no point in arguing with Tear. She looked after the well being of people but she was really blunt about a lot of things. Even though they were good points. "I get it. I won't wander away from camp next time."

"Please refrain from doing that," Tear agreed.

I nodded slightly. "By the way, aren't you on look out duty, right now?" I asked her.

"A short break doesn't hurt," she answered. "And I noticed you weren't acting normal. Are you acting like this because of Arietta?"

I sighed. Arietta blamed me for killing her siblings. Honestly, it was an accident. I never thought she would single me out from everyone. Hooray for hate targets. Add Dist to the mess and that means more trouble for Jade and Anise. I was a big bundle of trouble for a lot of people. And Ion... Ion was just a magnet for danger. He was far worse than a certain other danger magnet that I could think of. And that one had sparkling vampires to save her hide.

"Honestly, it kind of surprised me." I admitted. "I never thought she would do something like that. I mean, turn me into a hate target and all."

"You can expect more people to hate you, not just Arietta."

"I know..." I sighed a bit. "I'm still getting used to this soldier business..."

"You're still a civilian so take your time."

"I would if Jade gives me a break..."

"True... But the Colonel was looking out for the best interest of the party. He doesn't want any of us to be a burden."

More like he was trying to make me catch up to everyone so that I could defend myself from some crazy loco. That and he didn't want me to stray too far away from him in case someone else knew about my origins. Tear and I stared at the dark sky in silence. It was pretty quiet and the only sound that was made was the soft sound that crickets make.

"In a week we get to Kaitzur..." I mumbled.

"Yes... Van is there, too..."

"I shouldn't be in any position to say this but..." I paused a bit. "You shouldn't be so rash about him. Just because you hate him, doesn't mean you could kill him just like that." There were many times where I want to do that to my siblings, but I wouldn't do that to any of them. Tear probably wouldn't either. Yet.

"You make it sound like you have a brother."

"Actually, I have siblings." I admitted. "I'm the oldest and I have a good number of siblings. About...Five."

"Five...? That's a lot of siblings you have."

I laughed a bit. "It's not that bad. I just live with two of them while the other three at being taken care of elsewhere."

"...Your parents are separated...?"

"Yeah they are… What about your parents?" I asked her, even though I knew about her parents.

"...I don't know them. I was..." It sounded like she was hesitating a bit. "...I should return to the post." Tear spoke up. "Be sure to get some rest. You are next after the Colonel, and he said you would resume practice after your watch."

I groaned, letting my head hang low. I don't know why but the topic of Jade always ruined everything. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be over there in a bit."

"Just make sure you get back to camp, soon." Tear told me before she walked off. I silently waved at her before turning my thoughts towards today.

Then I heard a very familiar tune in the air causing my attention to divert from thinking to the source of the tune. It wasn't a fonic hymn. It wasn't a tune from the game, period. It sounded like it was from...

...Disney...?

I stood up from my place to follow the sound.

Whoever was singing that tune, they must have known something about home...!

* * *

Following the sound of the person wasn't that difficult. It was loud, it was male and it was definitely jolly. I was so glad that there wasn't anybody else around him otherwise it would be chaotic. Although...Did he had to walk through a damn _forest_? It made following him so much harder than walking in an open field. I had to move branches out of the way, climb and over some large roots in which he just jumped over them like they were nothing. And it was getting colder by the second...!

The source of the sound was a blonde man with green overalls, a red cape and the well known fork and chef's hat. He was in a marching form, almost like a soldier marching in an army. Except...that was a one-man army. A pretty sad one-man army.

"_Heigh ho, heigh ho, and off to work I go~_" he sang cheerfully. He began whistling the other half of the portion before going back to the 'Heigh ho! Heigh ho, heigh ho!' and then repeating the song again. He never lost a beat as he continued marching while moving the braches and leaves with his gigantic fork. It was a wonder why no monsters attack him because of his loud voice.

"You have got to be kidding me," I muttered, moving a branch away. I tried following him but he was still a fair bit ahead of me.

"Hey, you!" I called out to him, hoping he would slow down for me. No response except more singing and more marching.

"Wonder Chef! Wait!" Still marching.

Seeing as he didn't stop, I sighed. I really didn't want to say it but... "Freeze! Malkuth Imperial Forces!"

He froze almost instantly. I didn't think it would work but it did, and that part kind of shocked me. I sighed once more before catching up to him. By the time I caught up to him, he still held that frozen position. As in, he was about to take one step so he held that his weight was all on one foot. On one foot and at a sixty or more degree angle. How that was possible, I had no freaking clue. I waved a hand in front of him and still no response from him.

I rubbed my temple in frustration. He took literal stuff to a whole new level. "Unfreeze, dammit."

The Wonder Chef sighed as he took one step back and smooth out his overalls. "And here I thought I would be stuck like that for the entire time! Thank you, very much, my dear!"

"Why are you here?" I asked him, tiredly. "And why were you singing those songs?"

"You don't know anything about Snow White?" he questioned me. "And I thought you would know about it since it was from your home."

So he did know about Earth.

"You know about Earth?"

"Of course I do!" he beamed. "There isn't a world out there I don't know. Auldrant is the same as Earth but I haven't been able to venture around the world like this. So, to me, it's _a whole new world~_!" His arms were splayed out in front of him as he began to sing a new song.

"Stop!" I hissed at him, waving my arms in front of him. "You need to help me get out of here and back home!"

"I wish I could, but I can't!" he responded almost immediately and…disturbingly happily. I gaped at him.

"What?"

"My dear, I'm only good for cooking and disguising. Jumping worlds is not a skill of mine."

Okay…but that left one unexpected loophole. "Then how did you get here?"

There was a ruffle noise that caught our attention. The Wonder Chef's head flicked towards that direction and then he turned towards me. He raised one fisted hand in the air. "Gotta run!"

My eyes grew wide as I realized what he was holding. It was too late as his hand threw the small smoke bomb onto the ground. Smoke flew up into the air as I covered my eyes with my sleeve and fanned the smoke away from my face. I heard the Wonder Chef scuffled away while the smoke was still around. Once the smoke was gone, I frowned at the spot where the Wonder Chef once was.

Thank you for nothing, you useless character.

My frustration towards the blonde was cut short when I heard a growling from somewhere. My body suddenly went tense as my heart started beating madly as I looked around for the source of the growling. For sure it sounded like it was circling me.

Oh my God…! That idiot Wonder Chef left me behind to defend for myself. Hyperventilating…Hyperventilating!

"You're leaving me here to defend myself?" I shouted at the air, hoping the Wonder Chef would hear that. When I see that man again, I would wrap my hands around that neck of his to give him a piece of my mind.

All of my thoughts flew out of my head as silence responded me. Wait…where was the growling? Why did it stop? Was it going to attack me? I squeaked a bit as I backed myself towards a tree, both of my hands touching the bark. I hated being alone in the dark. Especially when there was something out there that would literally kill me.

I searched frantically to the sides trying to catch the slightest bit of the beast. I heard a twig snapped and my head immediately flew to that direction. I fell to the ground as my hand pulled out the handgun, shaking. I tried aiming it at the direction, waiting for the thing to come out.

I thought I shouldn't wait for it to come out, so instead, I fired the gun. It ricocheted off of metal as it flew towards another tree and the sound of metal ringing was heard.

Wait…Ricochet…?

"I thought I heard someone," a voice spoke up revealing to be Celena. She had a bloodied dagger that was dripping in one hand so it was a fresh kill. I still held her at gunpoint as she coolly stared at the gun. An awkward silence was between us before she turned around, about to leave.

"Wait, you're just going to leave me here?" I asked her, completely terrified. She paused a bit before looking over her shoulder.

"I don't care what happens to Jade's lackeys." She stated, bluntly. "It's his problem, not mine. However, there's a camp set up not too far from here, you can go there or stick around here. Your call."

"Camp?" I squeaked. "As in _your_ camp?"

She just shrugged. "You could stick around with the enemy or be bait for the wolves. That's completely up to you."

The latter didn't appeal to me so I was stuck with one option. Actually, I could find my way back to the camp where everyone else was, but I didn't even know how to get back. That and I lacked a map. I cursed at myself as I made my decision.

* * *

This day sucked. I followed Celena down towards her own camp. The crazy lady dragged the dead body of a wolf along with us and now she was cutting the darn thing up and cooking the meat pieces on top of the fire...with her dagger. And she had bloodied hands. She never minded the blood either...! After chopping some slices of the wolf, she threw the meat into a pot where there was something already cooking. It was probably stew or something.

"What the hell is she doing here?" a ridiculously familiar but rough voice asked. Celena looked up but then her gaze returned to the pot. I jumped from where I was sitting and turned around where the source of the voice was. Towering over me was a familiar face and frown with darker red hair and wore a dark Oracle Knight uniform. On his left hip was a large bastard sword indicating that he was a right handed person. Asch the Bloody was just like Luke but his expression was more rough, his bangs were spiked up and he looked like he was about to cut anybody into pieces with those eyes.

He doesn't look like he was really happy to see me. Well duh, I was wearing a Malkuth uniform. Of course not.

"...Uh...Hi..." I managed to say to him. It didn't please him at all; instead, it made his frown go deeper.

"Hey, Asch," Celena spoke up. "You're just in time for dinner."

"Answer my question, Celena," Asch repeated, not lifting his gaze from me. "What the hell is someone from the Malkuth military doing here?"

"Interrogation...?" Celena guessed, playfully. It caused Asch to scowl at her and she laughed. "I'm kidding. I found the girl in the woods-"

"You should have left her there."

"What was I suppose to do?" Celena asked, innocently. "She followed me out of her own free will."

That part was true...

"Then you should have killed her."

"But she's part of the Fon Master's group."

"Do I look like I care?"

"No, you don't."

"Exactly."

"But don't you think it would be nice if we gave her back to Fon Master Ion's group in one piece?" she continued. "After all, they spared Arietta. I think it's fair if we did the same. Besides, she's completely useless. The idiot entered the woods knowing that there was a bunch of monsters in there without a good weapon. Even worse, she doesn't have proper training. She's not a threat one bit. Now stop grumbling and eat."

Gee thanks...

Asch didn't appeared to be pleased one bit but he didn't do anything either. I think he wanted to cut me down but it seemed that he was willing to let that slide...for some reason. Well...I would find out about it but I couldn't since Asch walked over to Celena and took a bowl of stew she handed over to him. He sat across from me, behind the other side of the fire leaving me by my lonesome self. Neither of the two spoke to me during the meal. Actually none spoke at all. They just ate in silence.

Was it just me or was there an awkward silence out here? This was far more awkward than with Luke.

I was surprised that Arietta wasn't going to jump out at me at this moment. Wait...Where was she at this moment? Didn't Celena take her away from us earlier? Where was she now? I looked around to see if she was around. She wasn't.

"What are you doing?" Celena asked me as I turned back towards the two.

"Uh...Arietta..." I managed to say.

Without swatting an eye at me, she answered, "She's not here, if you haven't noticed." I opened my mouth to ask another question but she was one step ahead of me. "It's called a Panacea bottle for a reason."

I closed it. "Oh..."

The remaining time left was in silence...again. Celena finished first; she left the camp to do something. She didn't say what though. Not that she should be saying it to someone like me. Asch remained at camp, keeping an eye on me. Kind of...

He was sitting across from me, polishing his sword. I just sat there staring at the fire in front of me. My gaze occasionally lifted from the fire to Asch to see if he was staring at me. He wasn't. Though I couldn't help imagining things about Asch since he and Luke looked alike. If only his bangs stayed down instead of sticking up like that. Well...I don't think Van would allow the original walking around in cities with his bangs down at all. If that happened, people would recognize who he was almost immediately. Especially if he was in Baticul.

…Or maybe Asch just doesn't want to look like Luke at all.

Those two looked like twins if their current situation hadn't existed. If I were Suzanne, I would dress them up so that not only do they look identical, they dress identical. Too bad that would never happen.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Asch asked me suddenly. I jumped by the sudden question, trying to come up with an answer. "You should know who I am just by looking at my face."

"You two look the same but..." I hesitated a bit.

"Hmph, you're in the Malkuth military under the Necromancer and you don't even know. You're not as bright as you look."

Ouch. I knew more than you think, Asch... "I know that you and Luke have the same faces. Heck, I know the relationship between the two of you. It's just that...I rather_ not_ wanting to know about that."

Because keeping _that_ from Jade was going to be difficult...!

Asch scoffed. "So, you do know something about fomicry."

"Being the Necromancer's second-in-command, of course I do." I lied to him. And then...the silence returned. Frowning at him, I went back to staring at the fire. A few minutes passed and I sighed. God, I wished I had my iPod with me. At least I could do something instead of staring at the fire while trying to converse with an anti-social person.

Was this how Ion felt when he had nothing to do?

"Um...so..." I started to say. "Where are you two heading...?"

I was answered by silence. Asch chose to ignore me this time.

"Uh...Okay then..."

...I think...I should go to sleep now...

* * *

It was early in the morning. That I knew for sure because Jade usually wakes me up at this time for practice. If I didn't get up, then he would use some methods to get me out of my bed like making me search for my blanket after he took it or other things I rather not imagine. Either I get up early or wake up to something weird. I sat up in the darkness. It was chilly. Really chilly. Normally that wouldn't bother me because I had a blanket but I was sleeping on the ground without one. My arm was used as a substitute pillow because Asch and his friend there don't possess those things. Made me cry internally really.

Well, I should get away from here as soon as possible. Before I was worried that I was about to be mauled by monsters, now...I should head out before it was light out. If my assumption was right, then the monsters weren't going to be rowdy at this time of day. I stood up and checked Asch, who was sleeping on the ground with his back on me. Like me earlier, he was using his arm as a pillow. He didn't seem to mind that part at all. There was also no sign of Celena nor was there any sign of her returning.

Not that I care about her or anything, but I should head out like...now. Before Asch wakes up. Straightening myself, I turned around only to have a palm smacked towards my forehead. I fell back and hit the ground on my butt. Wincing in pain, I rubbed it.

"You suck at sneaking away." Celena said, tapping her foot on the ground. I looked up at her and she was staring down at me. Her arms were crossed, and not only her arms but her face looked crossed as well. "Next time, try to be more subtle about your departure. Even Asch knew you were awake."

I gulped as I turned around. As expected, Asch was already sitting up, glowering at me.

"Uh...Good morning to you, too..."

"There's no point of you escaping," Celena spoke up. "Now this makes sure you can't run away." She tugged the rope, testing it. Seeing as she was ridiculously stronger than she looked, I was jerked towards her. A slow smile spread across her face. "I don't know about your group but there's no break whatsoever."

Now I was being treated like a pet. Wonderful. Now they made me wish I was going through practice with Jade. Oh, why did I had to go find the Wonder Chef...?

* * *

"Hey~" I called to the two that was dragging me along behind them. I got no response from the person who was holding the other end of the rope. Which was Asch.

"Hey, person holding the rope!" No response. Well...the only response was from Celena who looked back with a raised eyebrow. She decided to ignore me of course.

My face twisted a bit. "Mr Redhead!" No response.

He was acting almost like Kratos... "Is there anybody in that brain of yours?" No response. Still!

Maybe he was ignoring me because I was throwing insults at him. "Oh Asch~" Again. No response.

Oh, that does it! I grabbed the rope and yanked it backwards. Asch's arm was pulled along with it but he then yanked it forward without looking back. And since he is a much more powerful person than I am, I was pulled along with it and I stumbled onto the ground. It was only then that Asch stopped. I lifted myself off of the ground.

"Jeez! Finally!" I sighed. "Can we stop for a bit...?"

Asch's eyes narrowed at me. "I thought we agreed to no breaks."

"Uh...no...That was you and Lena's decision. Not mine."

"Don't give me a nickname, girl."

I shot a look at Celena. "My name is Anh, not girl."

She looked away, uncaring. "Like I care."

Somehow...those two act very alike... Almost like siblings... Whatever the case was.

"Anyway, can we stop for a bit?" I asked them, sweetly.

"No." Asch answered bluntly.

I pouted. "But I have to pee...!"

Without missing a beat, he replied, "You disgust me."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, gee, I'm sorry I had to say that but I really need to go and you ignoring me doesn't help at all. Can I make a stop...?"

Asch let out an irritated sigh before directing me to a large rock. I walked around it while trying to wrestle the rope around my wrists free. It was hopeless since the rope was tied in really odd ways. It was almost impossible unless someone used a sword and sliced on it. Futile...

With a frustrated sigh, I sat down on the ground with my hands on my head trying to figure out a way to get away from these psychopaths. Even though the destination was the same as Luke and them, the silence was going to kill me and I wasn't a silent type...unless I have nothing to say.

Celena poked her head around the rock. I squeaked at her sudden appearance. Her eyes were narrowed dangerously at me.

"Wh-what...?" I managed to ask her.

"If I ever catch you lying again, I will drag your little bottom all the way to Kaitzur myself."

I groaned again. She was as sharp as Jade. I guess it was a have to since she was the head of the Fon Master Guardians. What confused me more was that why someone like her was working with the God-Generals, which were under the Grand Maestro faction. Wasn't she in the Fon Master faction...?

My mind was thrown back into reality when she jerked me to my feet and pulled me along with her. This trip was going to take a really, really long time...

* * *

It was already past midday. My feet were sore and I was tired of walking as of right now. I think Asch was about to give up on me because I was bugging him every so now and then. But it was only because I was bored and I would like to have someone to talk to even if the person was going to be an anti-hero. I opened my mouth once more in attempt of a conversation.

"You better have something good to say." Asch told me before I said anything. He wasn't looking at me and he just confused me at that part. I closed my mouth and frowned.

"How did you know I was about to say something?"

"You tug the rope whenever you do."

Oh…I didn't know that… He picked up some of these habits I didn't even know that were habits. I kept walking as the two in front of me suddenly came to a halt. As of the result, I bumped into Asch, who didn't mind that part. Puzzled, I peered past his shoulder to see a large mass of dead monsters. Most of them had stabs and it looked like it was brutally beaten up. From the colour of the blood, which was a deep red instead of the fresh colour, it looked like it happened some time ago.

Asch handed the rope over to Celena before he walked over to the monsters to inspect them. After staring at them for a good minute or two, he returned to us.

"Are they dead…?" I asked him, hesitantly.

Celena scoffed. "If they were alive then we would have been attacked that instant." She looked at Asch. "Well?"

"That Fon Master Guardian was here," he answered, gruffly. "And she's alone."

My face brightened as I realized who he was talking about. I was hoping that Luke and the others were ahead of us but it turned out that I would be seeing someone else pretty soon! I was pretty excited by the news. Anise! Yes! I was not going to be alone with anti-social people any longer!

"How do you know it was Anise?" I asked.

"Well, it's not the replica that did all of that." Asch snapped at me and I recoiled.

"You didn't have to be so mean...!"

Asch ignored that. "I'm going to go on ahead." He declared without a reason. Before anyone could respond, he turned around and left immediately. I turned to look at Celena who stared at him passively.

"You're just going to let him go?" I asked her.

"He'll be fine on his own." She paused a bit before adding, "Unlike another person I happened to know."

"Well, gee, sorry," I replied sarcastically. It wasn't my fault that back at home there was absolutely no need to fight for your own lives.

"We already wasted enough time." Celena spoke up, tugging my wrists instead of the rope.

* * *

It rained that evening.

Right in the middle of dinner, too.

...Not that dinner was an appealing dinner. Tonight's dinner was, according to Celena, wolf something. I didn't pay attention to the other half but the wolf part stood out the most. I tried horsemeat before, which taste like beef almost, but wolf wasn't exactly one of the 'try' list...

We took shelter, underneath a large ledge that blocked out most of the rain. Another fire as well as another meal was being made. Not by me, of course. I just sat there without any binds. It was kind of obvious I couldn't flee at this moment since I would be soaking wet _and_ they could track me through the muddy footprints. Even if I could flee, I kinda don't want to at the same time.

I was stuck here for the night with some random person. At least there was a fire here! Better than nothing at all.

Just go with the flow. That was what I always do.

There was the sound of footsteps approaching us and I already knew who that person was.

I don't know why…but whenever dinner was ready, Asch always seemed to show up. He had like the best timing. Almost like there was a bell in his head saying 'dinnertime!' and he shows up. Just like that.

Well, Asch did return the moment dinner was ready. He was drenched from top to bottom but it appeared that he never minded it in the first place. When he came over, I took a good look at his face and burst out laughing. Uncontrollably.

"Is there something on my face that you find it funny?" Asch asked me. His tone said that he was not amused by my sudden sense of humour.

I waved a hand in front of my face as I tried to sober up. "Sorry! You just need to lighten your mood up a bit and, not only you look like Luke; you're acting just like him, too!"

His gaze darkened dangerously causing me to stop.

Oh crap.

Asch looked over to Celena. "We're supposed to return her, right?"

Celena tested the meat before biting it. She nodded, "Yep."

"You didn't say anything about what condition she should be in, though."

"No, I didn't."

"Good." He grabbed me by the arm and dragged me out into the wet rain.

* * *

"Huuu…"

"Stop making those noises, it's annoying." Celena told me in a strict tone. It was the next day and the sky looked like it was about to rain a second time. Dark clouds loomed over the air while we made our way over to Kaitzur.

"Asch beat me up, he made sure I didn't get dinner and I went to bed in pain. I'm hungry and in pain. What isn't there to whine about?"

"You didn't whine; you made noises."

"It's my way of whining!"

"Be glad Asch didn't chop off your arms when you said that."

"But he didn't have to make me unable to walk!" I tried moving my feet that was broken. Not only did he prevent me from fleeing, he made me crippled for the rest of the way. All of that while being shameless. At least I didn't have to walk since Celena was giving me a piggyback ride. Better her than Asch, who knows what Asch would do to me after that beating last night. But the paaain…!

Dammit! Why weren't either of them healers? I understand that Jade wanted me to stay clear from being healed but the pain was crippling me! And if Asch was a healer, he would definitely _not_ heal me because he was the one that whooped my butt!

"Your fault for lighting the fuse. Not mine."

"At least sound concern for me."

Celena had a long pause "…No…"

I cried in the inside. It was worth a shot though…

"Hey, you. Why don't you say anything?" I shot a glare at the cause of my pain. He wasn't paying attention to the glare.

Obviously, I received the silence treatment from him.

Asshole.

Okay, so it was my fault for making him this mad. It was just hard to resist after seeing a Luke look-alike and not making the joke while Luke wasn't around. Next time, I keep my mouth shut when it comes to Luke with Asch.

Aniiiise, where were you when I needed you the most…! I want someone to talk to other than the anti-social groupie here…!

* * *

**Hyuuu~ Done. I don't know why, but I do not like this chapter… Maybe it was because it was a dull one…**

**Anyway…Up for grabs from the Tales of Hearts game! Too bad Zelos' item isn't here otherwise I would have taken it for myself. Anyway! Lloyd's…red…boots… (O.O?) is up for grabs. As well as Presea's exsphere and Key Crest. What else… Natalia's scarf. And that should be enough for now. Jade's glasses…! Why are you at the very end of the game…! D:**

**EDIT: I TOTALLY FORGOT! TALES OF THE ABYSS IS ON THE TENTATIVE LIST FOR THE NINTENDO 3DS! AKA: ToA IS GOING TO BECOME A REMAKE SOON! WHO'S SO HYPED UP BECAUSE OF THIS BESIDES ME? *insert fangirl squeal right here* :D  
**

**Anyway, progress in the next chapter! See you all then~**


	14. Chapter 13: Kaitzur

**Author replies :D**

**Aquamarine Silvertail: In the game Tales of Hearts, there are sidequests where the player can acquire items of Bandai Namco characters. For example: Guy's vest, Natalia's scarf and Jade's glasses are the items that allow the player to call forth the characters into battle. There are more and I'm slowly naming some of them. Neat, isn't it? Anyway, Jade's glasses require the player to complete a sidequest AFTER the game is complete…which sucked in my case.**

**Loy: :D *hands you Presea's Keycrest and exsphere***

**I forgot to add this but: I thank my beta, Mieu, for beta-ing this.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of the Abyss. Period.**

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**Chapter 13: Kaitzur**

Asch went on his merry way once more. He usually leaves until dinner every night. By the time it was the next morning, he left without a trace while I was left in Celena's care. By care I meant being carried by her the entire way. Not once had I heard her complain about my weight. She was a lot stronger than she looked. And here I thought her slim frame was all for show. Now that was where I was completely wrong.

I tried to do something while being carried, like talking to her. She just kept going on while being silent so I ended up talking to myself. It was rather sad so I opt out for the next option: Sleep. No seriously, I just napped. I was given a free piggyback ride and I got nothing better to do. The scenery was something I don't usually bother and I would eventually get tired after watching them for who knows how long.

I also decided to make random notes in my head about the two of them. One of them happened to be about scent.

For example, I noticed that Celena had a nice rose perfume. Asch's had a spicy…something. Cologne..? Yeah, cologne. I didn't know that he wore cologne but he did.

…It smelled like cinnamon or something spicy.

It made me drool a bit.

He smelled that good.

Okay, mind back into action and away from the yummy smelling Asch. We (as in Celena and I, Asch ditched us obviously) made it to Kaitzur in record time. And I meant record time. According to Ion, it was supposed to take a week and a half so about ten days. Celena, with her beastly strength, got us here a little over half. But that was because there were no breaks, they were up early in the morning, they camped out late and other stuff...I think…

Kaitzur checkpoint. One word to describe this place: Dull.

Soldiers at the entrance and at the gates stood high in attention and alertness. They barely bat an eye towards the travelers there and they just…stood there. Hands behind their backs, their backs were perfectly straight, their heads held at an acute angle and they were pretty much boring all together. Obviously it wasn't a place for sightseeing but...they could try to make this visit worthwhile or something.

"Please please please let me through?" a familiar voice spoke up. I lifted my head from Celena's shoulder to see Anise trying to beg a soldier to let her through. "I don't have my passport or identification but I have to get through!"

"I'm sorry, miss, but we cannot allow people to go through without a passport or identification." The soldier replied.

"Can't you make this a small exception?" Anise begged, posing a rather cute pose. She was standing on one leg, her entire body was tilted to some degree and she was probably covering her mouth while giving him puppy eyes.

"Again, I'm sorry."

Celena sighed as she walked up to her. "Anise, that is futile. You can't make them budge."

Anise turned around, still holding that cute pose. Her eyes widened as she relaxed her pose. "Wh-whoa! Lieutenant! What are you doing here? And why is Anh with you?"

"Hi, Anise." I smiled at her while giving her a small wave.

"Good timing you have there, Anise," Celena said, changing the topic. "I'll let you take care of her while I go on ahead. I'm tired of her drooling on my shoulder."

"I wasn't drooling on your shoulder!" I protested.

"You were when you were mumbling about cinnamon a while ago."

…Oh yeah.

"She's doing it again…"

"You two seemed to get along pretty well!" Anise commented.

"What two?" Celena and I asked simultaneously. That caused Anise to giggle some more while Celena, roughly, released her hold on me, letting me fall onto the ground butt first.

I hit the ground with a groan. And now my entire lower half was scorched with pain. I rubbed my butt while supporting most of my weight with the other arm. I looked up to see that Celena was making her way towards the border leaving Anise and I at the checkpoint.

Great.

"Wow, what happened to you?" Anise asked me as she bent down a bit. "You look like you've been beaten up."

"I was beaten up." I corrected her. "Do we have enough money to stay at an inn? I'm dying for a comfy place to sit down on like right now. Also, do you have something to dull the pain for a bit?"

I really hated painkillers but I will use them if I really have to. Anise stood up straight as she rest a finger on her lower chin. She then went through her pockets and pulled out something that looked a lot like candy. Wow, I hadn't had candy in such a long time. Looking at that already had my saliva building up in my mouth.

"Here, eat this," she told me as she passed the candy to me. I took the candy, unwrapped the wrapper and popped the candy into my mouth. A burst of apple flavor invaded my sense of taste. I chewed the gummy realizing that it was an apple gel I ate.

…Yummy~

Now I know why the Japanese version called it 'Gumi' instead of 'Gel'. It was a gummy. As in a gummy bear gummy.

Yum~

Not only does it taste good, but also it made the pain go away. It probably didn't heal what Asch had done but at least it was a substitute until better methods of healing arrives.

"From the look on your face, I'd say you like apple gels very much!" Anise laughed. "Well, it's expected since they are really, really addicting. But we have to preserve them even though they are that good. Come on; let's get you inside while the effects are still working. Once Luke and the other have caught up to us, we can have Tear heal you."

I don't know if that last part was going to be a good thing or a bad one. Hopefully I don't pass out like what happened earlier.

* * *

For the next few days while we were waiting for Luke and crew to show up. At least a week had passed or so. …Or maybe less. I didn't know. I never bothered with dates and if I asked for the date, it would be meaningless to me since I had absolutely no clue about Auldrant's calendar. Yet. I updated Anise with the recent news, which included meeting Jade and the fonslot seal and meeting Arietta at the Fubras River.

Although my legs felt a lot better than what they used to, Anise suggested I rest while we wait for Tear to show up. In her own words: 'It's better to be safe than sorry. Just because it feels better doesn't mean that you're legs have completely healed.'

While I rested and tried not to move around a lot (I still tried standing on them every now and then…behind her back), Anise went out in attempt to get us to pass without passports or IDs. It was futile still but she kept trying. She had this theory where if she asked them every day, one of them would have enough compassion to let us through. She even used me as a guinea pig! Pity target but still! Each attempt was futile. Anise told me she wasn't about to give up until a week later…or until Luke and the others shows up.

Apparently she arrived a day before Celena and I did which was pretty good timing we had there. While she was coming up with ideas for her new excuses, she cooked for every meal. I had to say this but her cooking was good. She had me try a variety of dishes while asking me which one would Luke like the most.

I couldn't give her an answer since I had absolutely no clue what Luke liked or disliked. I know Asch's. But I definitely do not know Luke's.

"So, how come you're with the Lieutenant?" Anise asked me as she watched me toyed with my most hated vegetables: Onions.

I winced at it as I moved a small slice towards the edge of the plate. I bit into a slice of bread as I thought of what to say. The truth couldn't hurt, would it? "I followed the Wonder Chef and I was nearly attacked by a wolf if Celena hadn't killed it before it attacked me."

Anise stood up straight slamming her hands onto the desk. "Whoa! You ran into the Wonder Chef?" Her eyes beamed with excitement.

"Yeah…" I answered. "Why? I thought no one would believe me if I told that to anybody. Wasn't he in fairytales?"

"He is but if he actually existed, I would most definitely want his autograph~" Anise's hands clasped together and began swaying back and forth. I smiled at her.

"You like the Wonder Chef that much?"

"Not really," Anise admitted. "But imagine how much Gald his autograph would be worth?"

I had to resist the urge to move my plate aside and slam my head onto the table. Instead, I stabbed a piece of the meat with my fork and ate it. If someone had to describe Anise in a few words it would be: Deadly little girl that craves money.

Anise then pouted. "Although some people would think it's a fake even though it was from the real deal. That means…!" Her eyes had an evil gleam in them as she came up with ideas. Most of them were about catching the Wonder Chef and bringing him to the public view. Which would kind of backfire on her if people thought that we just brought some blonde and dressed him up.

"…We should hold a cooking competition…!" Anise continued. "That way, the people would know that he's the real Wonder Chef and-"

I don't even need to hear those crazy ideas. If people didn't believe in Santa Claus even if he did exist and was standing in front of them, then they would most definitely deny that fact. It was the same case with the Wonder Chef. At least I know he was the real thing because…

…What random character would be singing Disney songs in the middle of _nowhere_?

"Well, I should get going now." She spoke up as she slid her chair backwards. I hastily ate a few more bites before shoving the plate to the side.

"Wait, I'm coming, too!"

"No, you stay here and rest."

"But I'm tired of resting all the time."

We had a short standoff of whether I should go or not. Then Anise heaved a sigh.

"Fine, but you better not be pushing yourself."

"Yes, ma'am, I won't."

"Aren't you older than me?"

I looked left and right. I should be but I don't think Anise knew I was older than her. Though…that should be a given. "Yes…? Maybe…? I don't know."

Anise placed her hands on her hips. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"Then don't call me 'ma'am'," Anise ordered. "Makes me sound older than I should be." She turned around and head towards the door. I smiled to myself before going after her.

"But Anise~ You _act_ older than you should be~"

* * *

Anise marched up to the soldier at the gate, very determined today. The soldier at the gate didn't seem very pleased at her. He held a hand up at her, which basically told her to stop. Anise stopped and looked at him straight in the eye. Then she started her new act.

"Can't you let us through?" she asked him softly. Her head hung low, her tone sounded broken and I suspected that she was about to cry. Cry crocodile tears to be more specific. "My friend here needs serious attention and the next Seventh Fonist is all the way at the Port!"

"I'm sorry to hear about your friend," the soldier said, looking towards my direction. I raised an eyebrow at Anise, who was looking at me with a devilish grin. "But she appears to be fine."

"No no, she's actually in pain. Watch," Anise told him, lowering her fist onto my shin. I winced in pain as I gripped her shoulder as support. Thank God the actual damage happened was a while ago otherwise I would have buckled over from pain.

Still. Ow.

"See? She needs serious attention," Anise continued. "We've been coped up here for a really long time and her legs haven't healed ever since. We need a Seventh Fonist. Now!"

The soldier fumbled a bit. "I-I understand. Do you have a passport?"

Anise lowered her gaze as that particular topic was brought up. "We lost it during our trip."

"I can let you through if you have ID."

"We lost those as well." Anise told him. "Please let us through. Please! Just this once!"

"I'm sorry," he told her, "but I can't let you pass without either of them. It is regrettable but that's the law."

Anise sighed, turning around and walked off as I lost my support. I stood there, hands on my hips as I wait for the pain to dull. Off to the side, I heard Anise said 'You better watch your back' darkly. Looking at her direction, I could see her giving him a dark glare. I gave her a nervous grin. Did she say that to every soldier that was here...?

My grin dropped when I saw _them_ behind her. It soon turned into a relieved smile as Ion smiled back at me. I would go greet them but the pain...!

Anise didn't seem to see them, she was rather busy still giving the soldier evil glares and possibly thinking evil thoughts. Ion chuckled a bit. "Anise, Luke can hear you."

Her attitude changed almost immediately like a grumpy child that was given candy. Anise's eyes widened as she saw Luke and she clasped her hands together happily. "Oh! It's my darling prince~" She ran over to him giving him a hug...glomped him actually. Luke slightly recoiled back a bit but he steadied himself. He was pretty surprised by her sudden glomp.

Off to the side, Guy took one step away from Anise and Luke. Then one step closer to Jade.

"Luke~" Anise giggled. "I'm so glad you're safe! I was so worried about you~" She turned her head over to Ion. "Oh and you too, Ion."

The first part was obviously a lie. The second part, maybe...

"We were worried, too." Luke said. "They said you were fighting the soldiers and you fell from the Tartarus."

"Yeah, it was pretty scary." Insert evil Anise laugh right after that.

Ion placed one hand on Anise shoulder as he looked up at Luke. "The poor thing must have been terrified. She screamed, 'I'll kill you bastards!' as she fell."

Anise turned around and placed a finger on her lips. "Ion, please! Shh!"

"You did scream that, Anise." I pointed out as I slowly made my way over to them. "It was pretty loud."

"Anh is no different," Ion chuckled. "She screamed just as loud in the Cheagle Woods."

"E-" My face felt hot and it was probably an unattractive shade of red. "Ion! Shh!"

Anise giggled. "You gotta admit. That was pretty loud. The Colonel and I heard at the entrance of the Woods, too!"

Now my face was probably as red as Kratos' hated fruit. "I feel like I should flee now..."

"Speaking of fleeing," Luke spoke up as he tossed my bag to me. "Why did you leave us? Did you realize that I had to fill in your watch out duty? That we searched almost everywhere for you? That was a waste of my time!"

"I-It's not like I meant to do something like that!" I protested. "I got sidetracked!"

"What made you sidetracked?" Tear asked me as she crossed her arms. I bit my lower lip as she asked that. Normally I would tell her but she doesn't believe in the Wonder Chef so it would sound like an excuse.

"Anh found the Wonder Chef," Anise spoke for me. I had to slap my palm onto my face when she did that.

"Again with the Wonder Chef?" Tear asked before she sighed. "I thought I told you that he doesn't exist."

And I got nothing from him to prove that he actually existed either. Dang it...!

"After that she was rescued by the Lieutenant!" Anise chirped.

Tear's eyes twitched in agitation. "The Lieutenant was near us at that moment?"

"She was, unfortunately." Jade nodded. "She also camped at least a good distance, otherwise I wouldn't have been informed about Anh's disappearance."

There was a large awkward silence between all of us as Tear, Guy, Luke and I turned our gaze towards Jade.

"What the heck? You _knew_?" Luke shouted. His arms flew up into the air in rage. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"No one asked me." Jade answered, sarcastically. "Besides, we were bound to meet up with her anyway, so it was fine."

"Fine?" Luke repeated. "_Fine_? We spent a couple of days trying to find her and that was _fine?_"

Again with more sarcastic comments. "It puts a good distance between us if we did that."

"You...!"

"Colonel, stop teasing Luke!" Anise ran over to Luke hugged his waist. "By the way, Luke. I kept the Imperial letter safe. Aren't you proud of me?"

Luke looked startled by her glomp. "Oh, uh, yeah. Good job." His gaze went up to Jade and gave him silent angry dagger glares to him.

"So Colonel," Anise peered over her shoulder towards Jade. "Were you worried about me, too?"

"Of course," Jade replied. Sarcasm was drooling from his tone. "We can't do a thing without that letter."

"Booo! You're mean!"

"How are we going to cross the checkpoint?" Tear asked as she looked at the checkpoint. "Everyone here besides Guy doesn't have their passport."

Cue Asch. "You won't need any once you're dead!"

Luke looked around to find the source of the voice. "Who..?"

"Up, Luke." I answered, pointing up. He looked up just to see Asch already in front of him. I expected Asch knocking Luke to the ground. I wasn't expecting him knocking me along with him. Luke took most of the blow and I was a few feet in front of him. I tried to get up but it seemed the pain from my legs came back. I was in between Asch and Luke as I stared into those hated emerald eyes. Crap! Where was Van? Wasn't he suppose to be here by now? Uh... Time to uh...reason with him. "Asch..."

"I don't need to hear anything from you!" He smacked me aside and I hit someone else this time. This time I heard a female grunt as Asch charged towards Luke to attack him.

Wait...Female grunt...? I looked behind me, confused, to see Celena taking the brunt of the crash. The sound of metal clashing caused me to turn my head over to Asch.

And now it was Van's turn to appear. He parried Asch attack with only one command. "Stand down, Asch."

Asch doesn't want to move one inch. "...Out of the way, Van."

"What do you think you're doing? I don't recall giving any orders like this." Van's eyes narrowed. He repeated the line, but more firmly. "Now stand down."

It took one long minute before Asch relaxed his guard. He sheathed his sword; his face looked like he wanted to cut Luke down at that moment. It might have worked if glares were daggers. He left with an inhuman jump.

"Ow. Do you mind?" Celena's voice made me realized that she was still behind me.

"Sorry!" I apologized to her moving away from her as fast as I could. She removed herself from the metal bar that was directly behind her. Ouch, that must had really hurt. "Are you okay?"

"My stamina is something _you_ shouldn't be worried about."

"She's right." I heard Van agreed. I turned around to see Van scanning me from top to bottom but his eyes were intently focused on my legs. While his eyes were on my legs, my eyes were on his brows. Wow, bushy brows. The tip of Tear's spear was aimed at him. If I was at the end of that tip, I would be shocked. But Van...Van had a calm gaze from the tip towards Tear's face.

Looking at her, I saw that her eyes were ice cold. "Get away from her."

"Tear, put away your weapon," Van told her, moving the spear away from his face. "You misunderstand. I was just about to heal the damage that Asch had done to this girl."

Her eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"He means that he was going to heal the idiot's broken legs." Celena answered her. "I'm surprised that you never noticed that she was limping."

"I can heal her myself." Tear said sternly.

Van stood up straight, looking at Tear. Eye to eye. Steady gaze to steady gaze. "Very well. Once you're done, come find me in the inn."

"Master!" Luke spoke up before Van left us. "Thanks for saving me." Van smiled before walking over to Luke. He exchanged a few glances as Tear inspected the damage. Anise, Ion, Guy and Jade had also joined us.

"Are you okay, Anh?" Anise asked me. "I told you not to push yourself. Is it my fault for hitting you earlier?"

"I think that Asch just made it worse when he shoved her out of the way." Guy spoke up. "She looked fine before he showed up. So I suppose it wouldn't be your fault."

"Can you stand, Anh?" Ion asked me.

"I'll try," I told him. "No promises there."

* * *

Seven Fonons flowed from the beautiful green gylph in front of Tear's hand and towards my legs. The pain was replaced by a soothing feeling that felt cool at the same time. Tear slowly removed her hand once the gylph was gone.

"There, that should do it." Tear said. She looked up at me and furrowed her brow. "You look pale."

"Am I?" I asked, feeling my forehead. Crap, faint feeling taking effect. "I guess the pain got to me." I gave them a smile. "I'm okay, really."

It looked like everybody else had bought it but only Jade knew the truth behind it. Actually, scratch that. Jade and _Van_ were giving me looks. Jade I could understand but Van.

Celena huffed. "I don't get it why Jade brought someone like her to the military. She's absolutely useless."

"True, but she has potential." Jade pushed his glasses up.

"Potential my butt." Celena crossed her arms. "You have this weird habit of picking up people in the middle of the streets. Just like that _maid_."

Maid? What maid? I turned to Jade who didn't seem to be phased by that. Instead he pushed his glasses up once more. "Need I remind you, Celena, that you, too, were taken in from the streets fifteen years ago."

It looked like Jade had struck a homerun cause Celena looked absolutely furious. Celena rushed over to him intending to give him a punch. I closed my eyes waiting for the conclusion to pass.

There was no one falling from the ground.

Nor was there the sound of punching.

I had one eye open to see Jade still standing there, arms crossed. His head was tilted to the side as if he was going to receive the punch but at the same time, his gaze was calm and calculating. Not too far from his face was Celena's fist. And holding her arm firmly into place was Van. Either Jade had anticipated that Van was going to hold her back or he was just some crazy guy letting someone punch him like that. I wouldn't think it was the latter.

"Let go, Van." She demanded quietly.

"Calm yourself, Lena." He told her, still holding her arm. "You shouldn't let your anger get the best of you."

A few moments passed before I heard her hiss. Celena jerked her arm away from Van and gave Jade some sort of look. I couldn't determine what look she had since her back was on me but if I were to make a guess, it would be a hated look. She, abruptly, left the room, slamming the door behind her as she did that. I heard Van sighed.

"It seems everybody is on edge today. I will drop by tomorrow. By then I hope you have all calmed down." He, too, left the room.

Silence covered the entire room. Mieu fidgeted beside me as I stared at the ground.

"Well then, it's been a while since we had a decent accommodation." Jade spoke up. "Let's all relax today. If there is a fee, I'm sure Dorian General Grants would accommodate for us.."

"I will go book the rooms under my brother's name then," Tear said softly. She turned around and exit the room in a very silent fashion.

"So, who's this handsome person over here~?" Anise asked as she eyed Guy from head to toe. She gave him a devious look and a small smile. Guy seemed pretty calm with her scanning him while Luke scratched the back of his head.

"Right, you two haven't met yet." He said. He had one hand gestured at Guy. "Anise, this is my servant, Guy. Guy, this is Anise."

"Please to meet you, Guy~" Anise chirped.

"Likewise, Anise." Guy said, smoothly. "I didn't think that Fon Master Ion's Fon Master Guardian would be so young."

Anise giggled. "Well, it's still a pretty difficult job."

Jade pushed up his glasses, looking quite amused. "If you call leaving Ion to Malkuth's military while she ran off to men whom have large sums of money, difficult."

Anise turned over to Jade and placed her arms on her hips while giving Jade a look. "Booo, Colonel, you're still being mean!"

"I'm not being mean; I'm just stating the truth."

She ignored that part. Anise turned over to Guy and pouted a bit. "But you're a servant, right? What are you doing all the way over here?"

Guy flicked a thumb over to Luke. "I went out to search for Luke on the Duke's orders."

"You must be strong if the Duke just sent you."

Guy chuckled lightly. "I wouldn't consider myself strong in comparison to someone like Van or Jade at the very least."

Luke huffed a bit. "You're being too modest, Guy. I would say you're on par with Master Van."

"You haven't seen the man at his full strength," Guy grinned. "I would say the same to Jade."

"Speaking of the Colonel," Anise looked over her shoulder. "A little bird said that you've been hit by a fonslot seal."

Jade cast a glance towards my direction. I just shrugged lightly at him as he pushed his glasses up. "Oh, don't worry about me. I may not be able to use most of my fonic artes, but I'm still formidable."

Anise gave him an once-over. "You don't look that formidable."

"Would you like to find out, Anise?"

"Ooh, scary. Guy~ Protect me from the Colonel~" She ran over to Guy to hide behind him but he immediately recoiled. He screamed as he backed away from Anise, arms flailing all over the place as he plant his back was against the wall. At that moment, Tear had opened the door and entered the room. She paused at the doorway when Guy slammed himself against the wall…which happened to be right next to the door. She gave him a raised eyebrow before he screamed once more and distanced himself.

I turned my head over to Anise who was standing on one foot with the other one raised in the air as if she was about to pounce on Guy. She, too, was watching Guy with both of her brows raised. She then lowered her raised foot on the ground and looked over to Luke.

Luke sighed. "Guy doesn't like women."

"Actually, he has gynophobia," Jade corrected. "He fears the contact of women."

Anise pouted a bit. "Oh, that's a pity… Shouldn't we try to cure you? I mean, if you get teased enough times, you'll definitely get over it."

"Please don't."

"Maybe if you tease him once a day, he might get over it eventually." Ion suggested. Anise's face beamed while Guy's dropped in horror.

"That's a great idea, Ion!"

"A wonderful idea, Ion. But let's save that for tomorrow, it looks like Guy has enough fun for today." Jade appeared to enjoy that more than Guy was.

"Do I look like I was having fun?"

"Booo, Colonel. You're always spoiling things."

* * *

The kitchen staff was pretty small so the meal was made by Anise instead. After the meal, we all sat in the rooms the Tear, Anise and I were sharing. Tear and I sat on top of a bed while Ion sat on a chair with Anise beside him. Guy was leaning against the wall and Luke and Jade were sitting on chairs. Mieu was with Ion, sitting happily on his lap.

It was already late in the evening but we didn't have to wake up early so that was a bonus. Most of the time, Anise was talking about her ordeals she had faced. The room was lit by some sort of fon technology that was pretty much similar to light bulbs. Guy wasn't going all Fon-Tech Mode on us so that meant he knew what they were. I noticed that Jade was constantly looking out of the window as if something was going to happen.

Not too long after, a storm began. It was a pretty light storm so we all ignored that.

Then the lights went out just like that.

"What happened?" Anise asked, frantically.

Footsteps were heard, and then something else. It sounded like someone was checking on the bulbs. Guy's voice sighed. "Looks like lightning has struck. Do we have anything as a backup?"

To answer his question, someone struck a match and a candle was lit. The room was illuminated with the soft glow of the candle with Jade as the center of it all. "Why, yes we do."

"I'm not even going to bother asking where you got that candle…" Luke muttered.

Jade's glasses gleamed. It looked like he was up to something. "You don't know? The candles are used during storms like these." He gestured at the window where the rain was pouring heavily. "It was a precaution for the inn staff since they don't want anything bad happening to their guests."

I gulped a bit. Somehow there was a scary story in the making. "Bad things happened here…?"

Anise giggled. "Colonel, you shouldn't tease people like that."

"I'm not teasing; it's the truth." Jade pushed his glasses up. "Black outs are pretty common in this inn when a storm is present which is why they supply candles and matches. It's quite useful at times like these. It reminds me of a story. There was a storm just like tonight's storm some time ago. A couple was staying in this inn since the rain made their progress difficult. They booked themselves separate rooms for the night, hoping that the storm would let up by the morning. The young woman was preparing to sleep in this very room when a black out happened."

"Why does this story sound so familiar…?" Luke sighed, resting a chin on an opened palm.

Anise pushed a finger on her lips at Luke's direction. "Shh! I want to hear the rest of the story."

Jade continued with his story, not minding the interruption. "Of course the woman wasn't scared of the sudden black out. She searched through her belongings to find a spare match and lit it. She wanted to check if her companion was all right so she left her room to do so. That was when _that_ happened."

There was a deliberate pause. I could feel shivers going up my spine as I reached for a pillow.

"With a lit match, she had enough time to go check on her companion and then return to her room. But she was only halfway through the hallways until the match suddenly went out. Terrified, she frantically searched for a solid wall to support herself against. Her eyes were adjusting to the darkness when-"

The candlelight flickered out and the room was once again dark. If I remembered correctly, the candlestick was still unused so it should have lasted through the story.

How come I got this feeling that something was going to happen?

"Oh my, the light went out." I heard Jade said. He had a hint of amusement in his tone. The sound of a drawer opened and a few seconds of waiting in silence, it closed. "It seems that there was only one match. I'll go find another one in the other rooms."

I heard him stand up and walked out of the room and the door creaked as it opened and closed.

"…Why didn't he ask Mieu to light the candle?" Luke asked in confusion.

"Mieu's asleep," Ion answered. "He fell asleep sometime ago so Jade didn't want to wake him up for that purpose."

Luke huffed a bit but he didn't complain any further. We all sat in silence and I felt Tear shifting herself on the bed pretty often. I could tell she was scared. Heck, I was kind of scared as well. I wasn't very fond of scary stories or movies since I get these images in my mind and I get overly paranoid especially at night. Like a murderer was in this very room or worse, a ghost. A bloodied, disfigured image of a woman. I shuddered at the thought. Goosebumps, check. Paranoia, check. Hyperventilating, almost getting there. I hugged the pillow closer to my chest as my heart thumped madly.

Where was Jade and the light?

"Jade's sure taking his time…" Guy muttered as he shifted from his position. "It shouldn't take that much time to find a match."

"Hmm…maybe he was attacked by the thing he was talking about." Anise suggested. "It could be a ghost for all we know."

"D-don't say such silly things." Tear hissed. "Ghosts don't exist…!"

I nodded frantically but no one could see it. "Of course NOT!" I screamed the last word that escaped my mouth since a hand grabbed my shoulder from behind. Out of instinct, I swung the pillow that was in my hand at my intended target.

What happened after that was like a bunch of dominos falling against each other. I screamed, then Tear screamed, and then everybody else screamed. I wrestled myself free from the hand. It didn't hesitate to release me as I moved away from the bed I was sitting on. I found myself another bed as I got on it and stood up.

"What's wrong with you?" I heard Luke shouted.

"Something grabbed me!" I exclaimed as I rubbed my arms to get rid of the Goosebumps.

"Don't be stu-Aah! Who's touching me?"

"I got it!" Guy shouted as he moved to where Luke was making frantic yelping noises. Next thing I knew Guy said 'whoa' before it sounded like he hit the ground. Hard.

It was at that time, the lights flickered back on. In the center of the room was a shocked Guy with a Jade holding his arm. Amusement was written all over Jade's face as I looked around the room. Tear was at a corner of the room with her weapon in hand; her face was pale as she looked like she wasn't ready to handle another scream fest. Ion was still sitting on the chair unable to do much since Anise was hugging him pretty tightly. Luke was backed against the wall but the minute he laid his eyes on Jade; his expression went from fear to anger.

"Jade…! When did you…!"

"I was looking for another match when I ran into one of the staff. They said that they would get the lights back on pretty soon so there was no need for any further searching." He responded as he released Guy's arm. He straightened himself as he placed his hands behind his back. "My apologies, Guy. It was merely an act of self-defense."

Guy chuckled nervously. "I've been through worse."

"Don't tell me that was _you_ who scared all of us." Luke pointed a finger at Jade's direction. In response to that, he just smirked as he pushed his glasses up.

"I find it quite amusing to see that you all jumped to a conclusion before I finished the story."

I furrowed my brow. "Wait...That's not how it ended...?"

"How did it end then, Colonel?" Anise asked, releasing her hold around Ion.

Jade pushed up his glasses. "It turns out that her companion was also checking up with her. Her companion grabbed her shoulder from behind, therefore startling her. Around that time, the electricity came back on. Nothing horrible happened to the two of them. Honestly, you youngsters shouldn't have taken that story seriously."

"It's hard not to do that when _you're_ the story teller!" I cried out, settling on the bed.

"I said that bad things happen here. That doesn't mean that my story was going to have a bad ending."

"Could've fooled me…" Luke muttered.

I sighed, resting my head on my palm. "Ditto."

"I think we have enough adrenaline running through us, now," Ion said as he stood up. "We should return to our rooms and rest for the morning."

* * *

The lights were out and the rooms were quiet. The guys had left about an hour or more, I couldn't tell. I just know that they went to the rooms they were all sharing. While Anise and Tear were soundly asleep, I was having a difficult time sleeping. I rolled over to one side, and closed my eyes trying to make myself fall asleep.

No good.

I didn't know what was wrong with me. Maybe I was just on edge of what happened today. But the more I think about that stuff, the lower the chance of me sleeping anytime soon. I decided to just wait it out. The soft sound of Anise's breathing was all that was heard in the room. I sighed softly before turning over to my other side. When that side didn't seem to make me sleep, I laid on my back. A few minutes later, it started to feel pretty uncomfortable so I flipped myself to one side again.

Still not working.

I sighed once more before tossing the covers to the side and hoped out of my bed. I was already tired of staying up while trying to sleep. I might as well head over to the kitchen and raid the fridge or something.

Hot milk sounded nice.

I opened the door and glance back in the room to check if the creaking noise disturbed Tear or Anise. Seeing as either of them hadn't moved one bit, I slipped out of the room and gently closed the door. I tiptoed towards the kitchen, rather…where I thought was the kitchen. When I reached an unknown room, I turned around and traced my steps back to the room. My eyes were already adjusted in the dark so a candle wasn't necessary. At the same time, I wished I had one because Jade's story still gave me the Goosebumps. The only problem with that was that I didn't know how to light a candle.

Moving on, I silently walked over to the other end of the hallway, hoping there was a kitchen there. There was. Even though my eyes had adjusted to the lack of light in the room, it was hard to differentiate which is what since this kitchen wasn't like my kitchen. It wasn't until my fingers touched the surface of something cold that I assumed that it was the fridge. My hand grasped the handle and opened it.

Yep, it was the fridge all right.

I hoped the staff doesn't mind if I mooch off of their milk supplies. Getting the one from the Wing Pack causes noise and I didn't want to wake Tear or Anise up. I searched through the fridge for a milk container. They had milk in metal containers while back at home we had it in cartons. Oh well, at least it wasn't difficult to find. I pulled the metal containers out of the fridge and set it aside.

Now I needed a pot since they didn't have a microwave. I heard someone shift behind me and fear overtook all of my senses.

Oh God...! Please tell me that wasn't a ghost. I wasn't even armed at all, I placed my handgun underneath my pillow in case of an attack and the thought of bringing it with me when I wandered the halls never occurred.

"Should I turn on the lights, Anh?" the shadow asked me and I immediately yelped.

The lights turned on and Ion was at my side. He had a very nervous look across his face. Seeing him, I sighed at my misunderstanding.

"Ion, that was you...Sorry for screaming."

"I apologize as well. I didn't think you would scream."

I rubbed my temple as I leaned against the counter. Then I remembered the milk and I searched for a pot, I noticed that there was one already on the old looking stove. I looked back at Ion and then it went over to a table where a glass of milk sat. "You were here drinking milk, too?"

"Yes, the tryptophan found in milk is said to break down into a neurotransmitter called serotonin that induces sleep. Or so I've been told."

Big vocabulary he used there.

I blinked a couple of times before pouring milk into the pot. "I never thought about that. I've been told that it helps you sleep when I was young." Below the pot was a large fireplace-thingy. I assumed that one had to light it in order to get the fire for cooking and such. Luckily there was a matchbox in the drawer near the stove. I took one stick and tried to strike it against the rough surface of the box. It was pretty unsuccessful since I had no flipping idea how to light a match.

Ion's hand covered mine before he pulled the match and box away. He lit the match easily before putting it in the fire-pit. It roared to life a few seconds after. Ion gathered his glass of milk and we stood there in silence, watching the fire dance.

"...Thanks, Ion."

"No problem," he said, smiling. "I don't usually get to do this in the Cathedral so I like to be helpful even if it's small things."

"You have a big job though, Ion," I pointed out. "You can relax as much as you like."

Ion sipped his milk and nodded. "Yes, I know. But I want to do something normal at least once."

"What do you mean by that...?"

Instead of answering my question, he pointed to the pot. "The pot's boiling over."

My head snapped over to the pot where the milk was boiling just like Ion said. I frantically grasped the handle of the pot and pulled it away from the stove. Milk dripped out from the rim of the pot and onto the floor and counters. I grabbed a cloth that was nearby and dried those surfaces. Ouch, hot, hot, very hot. I ran the cloth in cold water to cool the cloth and my hands before wiping some more milk off.

...Well...there goes at least half of my milk.

I sighed, resting a hand on my hip as I glared at the milk that was still in the pot. The milk was pretty much steaming hot at this moment so I had to wait for it to cool down. I don't know how long that would take but in the meantime, I should clean up the mess I made.

"You're pretty destructive in the kitchen, aren't you?" Ion asked me while I was washing the cloth free of milk. My face became flustered.

"D-destructive?" I repeated, I twisted the cloth to get rid of the moisture in it. "I may not be good in the kitchen but that doesn't mean I'm _that_ destructive. I just...don't pay attention to some stuff..."

Ion chuckled. "I noticed."

"Huh..." I mumbled, pouring the milk from the pot to the glass. It was at the right temperature and I took a sip out of it. It was a while since I had milk by itself; I usually had milk with cereal. Now that I think about it, the sugar from the cereal sweetened the milk so I was pretty used to that sweetness. After tasting it as it was, it was...plain.

No wonder I preferred it with cereal.

"Something is putting you on edge." Ion said, placing his glass in the sink. He grabbed the cloth and it looked like he was going to wash the glass.

"It's all right, Ion, I'll wash the glasses when I'm done with my glass," I spoke up, walking over to him.

"Oh, no. That's fine. I can do it myself."

I sighed softly. If he insisted, I guess there was nothing I could do. My thoughts went over to what he said earlier. "Do I look like I'm on edge to you, Ion...?"

Ion smiled a bit. "Maybe that's just me but you don't seem like yourself. It might be the story we heard today."

I choked on my milk when he said that. I turned away, trying to cough up the milk that went down the wrong pipe. "I don't know what sane person would act normal after hearing a story like _that_. How do you do it, Ion? How can you _not_ be scared?"

"Actually, I'm a bit terrified by the story, I just don't mind it when I heard the ending."

That would be the logical thing to do since it wasn't a scary story to begin with. At least there was one person on this entire planet that doesn't believe in Jade's lies slash stories slash whatever comes out of his mouth."You're incredible, Ion..."

"I'm not that special, but I thank you for the compliment."

I laughed. "At least you don't have to deal with him after you hand the letter over to Kimlasca."

"Honestly, I want to see the end results between Malkuth and Kimlasca..." he admitted, his head was lowered. "But my duty is to give the letter to Kimlasca and I would soon have to return to Daath after."

My head cocked over to one side. "Aww, why do you look so gloomy? Even if you return to Daath, I would come visit you. Heck, I'll try and drag Luke's butt over there, too."

"You would get a lot of complaints from him and I don't think Jade would allow you to do that."

My shoulders dropped a bit. "No, but it was worth a shot."

Ion chuckled a bit before he head towards the door. "It's getting late, and I'm feeling a little bit sleepy. Good Night, Anh."

I raised my empty glass at him before he left. "Night, Ion."

* * *

I woke up to the sound of loud banging at the door. Groaning, I turned around and tried to ignore it. Unfortunately for me, it didn't go away. Instead, the door slammed opened as someone marched into the room. Whoever it was, they just stood at the side of my bed. Just...standing there. One side of my bed heaved; I felt that for sure. And then I felt my back being poked.

"Anh, wake up," sang the softly sound.

"Five more minutes, Anise," I mumbled knowing that it was Anise.

"Come on. It's past breakfast."

"I can live without it."

There was a long dramatic pause. Being half-asleep, I thought she just gave up and left the room, leaving me to my sleep. But just when I was about to drift to unconsciousness, she spoke up once more, "But they made your favorite for breakfast this time."

My eyes jerked opened as I shot up from bed and threw off the covers. I charged through the doorway, screaming, "SUSHI!"

* * *

...She lied. Anise lied about sushi being made for breakfast. I couldn't help it though. It was my favorite. Darn Anise for making it that one day and darn me for gobbling it up like it was nothing. I sat there at the table with my head resting on my arms.

"...Traitor..."

I heard Anise giggled beside me. "You knew that there wasn't any sushi made for breakfast and yet you still fell for it every time."

"...I hate you..."

"That's what you said last morning."

"Oh, shut up."

Someone walked into the room and paused. A rich male chuckled filled the air as he continued walking and took a seat. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

"Oh, shut up, Guy."

"Mind telling me what's going on?" he asked.

"Anh's favorite is sushi so I told her that sushi was being made for breakfast." Anise explained to Guy with a chuckle. "You should have seen her bolting out of bed. It was almost inhuman."

"Sushi, you say. Normally, people wouldn't have sushi for breakfast."

"In Anh's world, it's possible."

"Well, that's a weird world, if I do say so myself." I heard Jade say. He was already present in the room when Anise and I arrived.

"...I hate you guys." I mumbled.

"Anh is grumpy~"

"Now, now," Ion spoke up. "I'm sure she misses the taste of sushi."

Guy chuckled nervously. "To a point of obsession? I don't think so, Ion."

"I agree with Guy." Jade said.

Evil. These guys were pure evil.

"And then, Master Van...!" I heard Luke from just outside of the room. I immediately straightened up and ran a hand through my hair to smooth it out as well as take out any knots. The doors opened with Van entering the room. Luke was walking cheerfully right beside him as Celena followed the two of them, silently and gracefully. Looking over to the right side of the room, Tear, who was silent the entire time, was watching Van's every movement like a hawk watching its prey.

Van sat down that was across from Jade who was technically sitting at the far end of the table. Luke took a seat in front of Ion, and I was sitting on Anise's left. Guy was sitting to Luke's right while Mieu stood on the table to Guy's right with an unoccupied seat behind him. Tear stood not too far from Luke. Her back was resting on a wall as she crossed her arms, her weapon was leaning against the wall right beside her. Celena stood a few steps behind Van's seat and she was standing there almost like a statue.

Ion stood up from his seat, gaining the attention of everybody in the room. "Firstly, I would like to apologize for my sudden decision for leaving Daath without much notice. You shouldn't blame the Malkuth military who were aiding me during my escape. The fault lies on me alone."

"No one was going to blame you for your decision, Fon Master," Van said, calmly. "Personally, I was quite surprised that you didn't bring more Fon Master Guardians with you."

"Anise and the Malkuth military would suffice for me," Ion responded.

"You should have taken Lena with you at the very least."

"I didn't want to make to a big deal for the Order. It was best if I just took just one unit."

Van nodded. "Yes, I suppose. Moving along, about the vanishing ordeal, I'd appreciate it if you'd fill me in on what's happened up until now."

Jade pushed his glasses up and stood up from his seat. "My Lieutenant Colonel and I were the ones who took Ion away. Allow us to explain." I gestured Ion to sit down before Jade were to continue. "Now then, Anh, would you kindly explain."

My eye twitched a tiny bit before I stood up. Thank God I knew the events, otherwise I'd be screwed.

* * *

"And that concludes the recent events up until now." I said before sitting down. I skipped the part where I was separated from the group but there wasn't much detail to say during that time. Fubras River then Kaitzur. What else was to say about that? What we had for dinner?

Ion turned over to Van. "When the Malkuth military came up to me requesting for assistance, I felt that I should be responsible to see things through. I never thought that Mohs would disagree with it. But the Six God-Generals..."

Tear took a couple steps closer to Van, accusation were in her eyes. "The Six God-Generals are under your command, Van, why are you interfering with Fon Master's Ion's wishes to stop war?"

Van calmly looked over at his sister while Luke shot his own look at Tear. "She's wrong, isn't she, Master Van?"

"It's true that I command the Six God-Generals, but they are also a part of the Grand Maestro Faction. It's likely they're under orders from Grand Maestro Mohs."

Tear, angered by his words, slammed her hands down at the table. "Grand Maestro Mohs only wishes for peace! He would never do such a thing!"

"Calm down, Tear," Guy spoke up. "It makes sense if you think about it."

"To make things clear, I don't side with the Grand Maestro faction." Van looked around the entire room. "People tend to assume that I side with the Grand Maestro because I'm the leader of the Six God-Generals. For that matter, Tear, you're a part of the intelligence division under the Grand Maestro's command. Why are you here?"

"I'm searching for something under orders from Mohs. I can't say any more than that." She answered calmly.

Van narrowed his eyes as he caught on. "Would that something happen to be the Seventh Fonstone?"

Tear didn't answer the question, instead, she looked away. All around the table, we, which includes Mieu, all expressed our shocked looks, with one exception: Luke. Luke furrowed his brow in confusion.

"The 'Seventh Fonstone'...? What's that?" His brows flew up in curiosity.

From there, the room fell silent. Van held a calm expression while Celena facepalmed to the side. Ion smiled nervously, Anise chuckled nervously for him and I had a strong urge to slam my head onto the table in front of me. Jade coughed, Mieu did his best to cover his face with his tiny paws, Tear pressed a palm to her forehead and Guy muttered 'talk about sheltered' underneath his breath. It took some time before Luke looked around the room to see everyone's expression.

"What? Quit looking at me like I'm stupid?"

"The Seventh Fonstone is part of the Score Yulia read 2000 years ago," Van explained for Luke.

"The world's future is written within the Score," Tear continued. She turned to Ion. "According to what I have heard, the Score, itself, was pretty long."

Ion nodded. "It took up seven fonstones, each the size of a mountain. Eventually, the stones broke apart. Some became the fon belt you see in the sky. Others fell to the earth. Malkuth and Kimlasca both tried to claim the stones that fell to the land, and it led to war."

"Because if you have the fonstones, you can learn the future~" Anise chirped.

Luke nodded as he soaked in all of the information. "Huh. So, the thing with the seventh 'Score' written on it is called the 'Seventh Fonstone,' huh?"

"It's said that Yulia hid the Seventh Fonstone herself after she read the Score," Jade spoke up. "Therefore, numerous powers have been searching for the Seventh Fonstone."

"And that's what Tear is looking for now?" Luke asked, looking at Tear.

Tear straightened herself and crossed her arms. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not."

Luke tsked. "You're such a stingy woman..."

"At any rate, I have nothing to do with Mohs." Van said. "I'll order the Six God-Generals not to interfere with you all, though I don't know how much good that will do."

Ion nodded. "Hopefully, more good than harm."

Guy flicked his head towards Van's direction. "Also, Van, what about the passports?"

"Oh yes, Duke Fabre has entrusted me with temporary passports. With the spares I brought just in case, there are just enough for all of you." Van pulled out a small package with a pile of passports in it. He unwrapped it and passed it around to each person at the table with the exception of Guy.

"Now we can cross the border." Luke opened the passport to see what's inside of them.

"You should get some rest here before you go," Van told them. "It's been a long talk and another day of rest doesn't hurt. I'll go on ahead across the border and ready a ship. Lena will stay here and guide you all to the port first thing in the morning."

-page break-

I stretched my arms out as we all walked out of the room where we had that conversation with Van in. We eventually left the inn for some fresh air. Celena was taking the lead and she turned to look at all of us. On hand was rested on her hip.

"So you guys are given one extra day of rest. Take this time to relax or do whatever you guys want. Just don't wander outside of Kaitzur. I don't want to be the one hauling you back. We leave at first light." She turned around and head towards the border where Van had just passed.

Luke glared at Tear. "I told you Master Van wasn't doing anything wrong."

"I don't trust him." She stated simply without looking at him.

"Oh yeah? Well, I don't trust you."

"Fine by me."

"...Nice friendly relationship you two have there," Guy commented, only to receive angry glares from the two of them. He immediately backed away from them. "Talk about a stiff atmosphere..."

"Really? I find it quite nice." Jade spoke up. "After all, a good relationship builds up on insults and hate."

"Just like you and your Lieutenant Colonel...?"

Jade smirked. "Just like my Lieutenant Colonel and I."

"Hah hah hah..." I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

* * *

Evening came by and went. Waaay before the sun hit the horizon, I had been woken up by Anise once more. This time, with tempura. Daaang iiit...! I ended up getting myself dragged out for practice by Jade. It wasn't that bad...I think. We started with me jogging around to get the adrenaline going through me before we went down to the actual practice.

I really didn't want to say this but I actually missed the training. No more grouchy red head God-General threatening to break other bones or whatever he could think of.

By the time practice ended, it made me wished I never missed it in the first place. That attitude quickly changed when breakfast arrived, specially made by Anise. Everyone ate at their own pace and left the table to pack or get ready. We were all outside of the inn with Celena having a light conversation with Ion.

Well...most of us.

"Where's Luke?" Anise asked, looking around. I looked around as well and to my surprise, he wasn't there. He was there for breakfast for sure, but where was he at this moment?

"I'll go look for him," I told Anise before she could make any suggestions. I guess the only place where Luke could be in the entire inn would be in the room he; Jade, Guy and Ion were sharing.

I asked for the exact location where the room they used to share was. The staff was kind enough to point it out for me and I found it without any trouble. Sitting on his bed, was Luke with his back on the door. I knocked on it lightly to get his attention and it did more than get his attention, he jumped from where he was sitting. Turning around, he saw me as sighed.

"What? Is it time to leave?" he asked.

"Just wanted to know what'cha up to." I answered, walking over to him. He shoved whatever he had in his hands underneath his pillow and my brows furrowed. "Come on, Luke. Show me."

"No!" he said defensively.

"Why? Lemme see it?"

"Lay off will you?"

I placed both of my hands on my hips as I scoffed. "Fine, I will if you tell me what are you hiding!"

"It's just my diary, okay?" he shouted.

I took one step back. "Yeesh! Don't have to be that defensive about that."

"Will you leave now?"

Before I could say anything, Mieu ran up my leg and onto my shoulder. He rubbed his furry cheek against mine. "_Myuu!_ Mieu knows what he's doing! Master's plotting something about Jade!"

"Argh! I told you not to say anything stupid, Thing! Now my plan's ruined!"

My eyes perked up in interest. "Against Jade? As in a prank?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"...Let me in on it."

* * *

**Fun fact: Yes I love sushi. I will literally have it for breakfast because I love it that much.**

**Anywho, up for grabs is Order of the Holy White Mother (summons KOS-MOS), Tokunaga's up for grabs and...Leon's-er-Judas' mask. XD**

**Everybody knows that the next chapter spells disaster. If you guys have any suggestions on what the pair should do, feel free to leave a review for it. It may or may not show up in the next chapter, but it really depends if it's doable. That and it should backfire on Luke and Anh. XD After all, it is Jade they are targeting. I got a couple already in mind.**

**Ooh! It's also nice if you can make the a Halloween theme prank. }D**

**Up next: Getting back at Jade.**

**Please review and see you all in the destructive chapter!**


	15. Chapter 14: Getting Back at Jade

**Happy Halloween you guys! :D I'm happy that this chapter was able to be posted on this day because it's all about pranks. That and shits and giggles.**

**I love using FF to get away from this thing call Midterms. Though I really should study... But the ideas come to me whenever I think of…math.****..? Don't know how that works but it does… Onwards to Author replies!**

**The Fool Arcana: Yes, pulling a prank on Jade is like pulling one on the devil. Which is why it's going to be so much fun! To me. Oh and Asch is being Asch. He hates anything that has to do with Luke. Except Natalia (obviously).**

**Rose: Sushi lovers unite~ :D The one who grabbed Anh's shoulder was actually Jade. XD He was also the one who grabbed Luke. Done all of that for the fun of it. And here's Tokunaga.**

**Aquamarine Silvertail: Sorry, Tokunaga's taken by RedRose-Requiem. ^^; As for the pronunciation, it's a bit tricky if you don't have some basic Japanese knowledge. You pronounce it as "Toe-ku-na-ga". The 'to' part is the tricky one (as in you don't pronounce it as 'too') the rest is simple enough.**

**And so I thank my beta Mieu for beta-ing this for me~**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToA. I basically own nothing ToA related, especially the next couple sentences below.**

**Warning: The following scene(s) contains violence and coarse language. Viewer discretion is strongly advis-*gets shot***

**Vampires covered in blood is prohibited from entering this pa-*gets shot by Zero***

**

* * *

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**Chapter 14: Getting back at Jade**

"So...what's the plan?" I whispered to Luke while occasionally glancing in Jade's direction.

"Give me some time and I'll think of something," he muttered back to me.

"Right, that's what you said yesterday." I pointed out. I lifted a finger and tilted that to the side. "And the day before. And the day before that."

"Will you just shut up?" he hissed at me. "It's not easy like going up to him and telling him a scary story like he did to us back at the inn."

"Because he's obviously going to say 'Oh that really terrified me. Honestly!'," I mimicked Jade's sarcasm as I rolled my eyes. "All of that with a straight face and amusement sparkling in his eyes."

"You know...You're getting creepier by the second."

I blinked a couple of times in amusement. A grin began to form. "Wait 'til you see me at my creepiest."

Luke made a face. "I'll pass on that."

I gave him a smile before shrugging and looking in front of us. Luke and I were walking at the very back of the group with Celena in the lead. The way we thought of it, it wasn't that necessary for us to be in formation so Luke and I broke the usual formation to give us some time to think about what to do with Jade. Although we were pretty slack with the traveling, I kept my weapon in hand in case of an attack. Though that wasn't the case during the past couple days of traveling.

The trip to Kaitzur naval port was supposed to take twice as long as the trip from Fubras River and Kaitzur. Give or take a week. I was guessing by looking at a map so I wasn't _that_ accurate. But, hey, two weeks was more than enough time to do an evil thing or two to Jade.

...Hopefully.

"Just what are you two talking about?" a certain aforementioned soldier suddenly asked us. He let himself fall back to walk at our pace. I pretty much tense up when he walked beside us. His red eyes were searching for answers...I think. Either that he was searching for answers or that he was getting suspicious about it.

"We're talking about how creepy Anh can get." Luke answered almost immediately. I smacked him in the arm for saying something like that.

Thank you so much, Luke...

"Oh really, I'm sure there are plenty of things she could be creepy about." Jade teased with a knowing smile.

"So what if I'm weird," I said defensively. "Everybody's weird in a way. Luke, on the other hand, is just plain sheltered."

"Excuse me?" Luke sounded really offended. "This is coming from a person who didn't know how to fight despite being a _soldier. _And you don't even act like a soldier either. What kind of soldier squeals loudly at the sight of a cheagle?"

"Hey, they are cute."

"You didn't have to make it so loud."

"Oh yeah? What about the time where you shouted when you found out that your Mieu's Master after you saved him?"

"I didn't save him! I saved Ion!"

"That's what you keep telling yourself."

"Why doesn't anyone believe me?" Luke turned towards Guy. "Hey, Guy, you believe me right?"

Guy, who hasn't heard the conversation, looked behind him with a confused look. "Uh...sure?"

"See? He believes me."

I rolled my eyes and placed one hand on my hip. "But he wasn't there at the Cheagle Woods, Luke, so he doesn't count."

"What's going on?" Guy asked, still confused.

Jade waved a hand at him. "Oh don't mind them; the conversation seemed impossible to follow to begin with."

"You seemed to know what's going on."

"Only because I started it."

Guy gave Jade a nervous look along with a smile that matched his look. "That's…" Then his brows furrowed and his expression became serious. "Hey, is it just me or does anybody else hear that?"

We all stopped in our tracks to listen to what Guy had heard. Even Luke and I just stayed quiet. Guy and Luke slowly reached for their weapons, not pulling them out but just waiting for whatever it was to come out. Jade and Celena stayed perfectly still, with the occasion movement to changing where they were looking at. Tear held her weapon up and Anise placed a hand on Tokunaga, both of them had a hand in front of Ion who was grasping his staff tightly. I slightly raised my rifle and inched closer to Ion in case of an attack.

After a good minute of listening, I heard it. The faint sound of wings flapping.

And it just got louder.

"Luke! Behind you!" Guy suddenly shouted. A loud piercing shriek filled the air and I was thrown to the ground. My rifle flew out of my hands and landed only an arm's reach away from me.

Now why was this ridiculously familiar?

Oh right, Jade was the one who tackled me to the ground. The only difference between that time at the Cheagle Woods and this time was that he also tossed Luke to the ground as well. Luke groaned as he sat up, he shot an angry glare at Jade but he said nothing at the colonel. The thing that flew past us was a large purple feathered hawk-like bird that was making a return trip towards the party.

"What the hell is that?" Luke shouted as he drew his weapon. The bird looked like it was going to take Luke as its target. This time, Luke was more than prepared. However, the bird was far swifter than he was and Luke dodged it by an inch or so.

"That's a garuda!" Guy answered, getting ready for a battle. "They are pretty common in this area. Be careful though, those claws are sharp."

"Man! Why can't the monsters be something as easy as the ones we encountered around St. Binah?"

As if something was answering his question, a hoard of chirpees flew into view. And not only chirpees, a good handful of garudas were also flying with the chirpees. Jesus Christ! That was a lot of monsters. I hastily gathered my rifle as I backed away from the incoming monsters.

Jade chuckled. "Ever heard of the saying, 'you should be careful on what you wish for?' Luke?"

"Why would I wish for _that_? And be serious about this battle!"

"But I _am_ serious."

Of course he was. I turned around and made my way towards Ion, Tear was already casting a spell and Anise was standing guard to Ion. As for Celena…Where was she? I glanced over my shoulder just to see her joining Guy and Luke in the front lines, Jade had backed a good distance away from the incoming monsters and was also casting. Well, at least everybody was ready for battle. I looked ahead and made my way to Anise and Ion.

"Anise, I can take over," I told her.

She nodded, pulling Tokunaga from his resting place. "I'm counting on you, Anh." She then took off looking like a young girl trying to catch a running bus. Oh wait, that sounded a lot like me except I had a bag full of textbooks over my shoulder and not a doll. Back to the battle... A fonic glyph appeared underneath of Anise before she slammed Tokunaga down onto the ground. Tokunaga went from something that was a simple handheld doll to a gigantic life size doll that would tower over Jade easily. Guy, Tear and Luke were the only ones that were surprised by Anise.

"What is that?" Guy asked, looking at Anise's doll with a shocked look. A chirpee took that moment to attack him from behind. He immediately noticed it when it screeched at him and he dodged it before slicing it in half.

"I didn't think that Anise would be a puppeteer." Tear muttered as she made her way towards me.

I resisted a smile that was slowly making its way across my face. "Now you know."

"Anise is very capable," Ion spoke up. "She can also cast some spells which makes her very deadly."

Tear nodded. A garuda flew past us, kicking up the wind and dirt. All three of us covered our eyes to prevent ourselves from being blinded by the flying dirt. Once it calmed down, the garuda was flying right back at us intent for a capture. Or kill. I aimed my rifle at it and fired. Although it was an inaccurate fire, it grazed the wing of the garuda causing it to falter and that gave Tear an opening. She drew a knife that was attached to her leg and threw it right at the garuda. The knife landed smack dab on the area where the heart should be located, it shrieked in pain as it flew past us and hit the ground with a loud thud. Even though it was on the ground it was still moving and I knew I had to finish it off. I shot at the head and its entire body fell limp to the ground.

For some reason I felt bad for it. It wasn't as if it was attacking us like it wanted to, it must be looking for food for its young which was why it attacked the first moving thing it saw. Which happened to be us. But it was kill or be killed.

"Well well, what have we here?" a raspy voice asked. We turned to see some guy dressed in dirty clothes and holding a mean looking dagger at us. He appeared to have not shaved or bathed judging by the look of his face and the smell. He gave us a crooked smile as he scanned us from top to bottom like a pervert looking at his prey. The smile spread even further revealing a set of loose teeth. A couple of men appeared behind him looking just as filthy as he was. "Looks like a bunch of healthy looking wenches with a cheagle."

"Fon Master Ion is a boy!" Mieu piped up. Tear and I could only sigh in defeat when a brow rose in interest. Ion smiled nervously at the young cheagle.

"Mieu…those are thieves." Tear muttered to the cheagle. When Mieu realized his mistake, his ears dropped in depression.

"_Myuu…_"

"The Fon Master?" he repeated. His smile spread even further. "Oh now this is a pure treat. The Order will pay handsomely to get you back." The men behind him laughed and raised their weapons.

"Not on our watch," Tear said dangerously. She raised her weapon at them.

The ringleader didn't look too concerned one bit. "Oh look, the kitten knows how to scratch, how cute."

"Nocturnal Light!" Tear shouted throwing a dagger at the one at the left. It hit him right in the shoulder and he groaned in pain before taking a step back.

The man watched his companion backed away. He was still focusing his attention on him before he slowly turned towards us. "Hey hey, that's pretty dangerous. Someone could get hu-" I didn't give him a chance to finish his sentence when I swung the butt of my rifle at his face. It hit dead on and he fell to the ground while Tear took the other one down. All of them were moaning in pain but none of them were dead. Yet.

The one that I smacked held his cheek and his eyes were furious. "You bitch! You scarred my face! I'm going to kill you now!" He stood up and yanked the rifle out of my hands. He threw it to the side and I immediately aimed my handgun at him. He didn't falter one bit. Instead, he smacked the gun right out of my hand and wrapped his hands around my neck. I felt my airways tightened as I gasped for air. The hands released me as someone punched him in the face, knocking him back down to the ground. A hand pulled me back while I coughed.

"You're going to get more scars if you do that." Celena spoke up, cracking her knuckles. I looked around to see Guy, Luke, Jade and Anise joining up with us. Celena appeared less amused by the second. "Using monsters as a decoy while you thieves steal whatever there is to steal. Very nice. What are you going to do about them, Colonel Curtiss?"

Jade pushed his glasses up. "Well we could drag them all the way to Kaitzur where I could make an arrest." He paused a bit and shrugged lightly. "Or, to save us some time and trouble as well as deadweight, we could just kill them and I will report to the military that they are dead once we get to the naval port."

"Colonel Curtiss?" the thief repeated. "As in _the_ Jade the Necromancer?"

"The one and only." I responded rubbing my neck.

It took a few minutes before he got up and fled. The other two, who didn't know what to do, fled along with him. There was a threat of 'I'll get back at you for this', with a lot of finger pointing and unclean words. If they weren't looking so beat up, that threat was just an empty one. Celena made a face at Jade and pointed in their direction.

"Is it a good idea to just let them go like that?"

He shrugged in response. "The letter takes priority. We could always chase them afterwards. That is, if they enter Malkuth territory."

Luke rubbed his shoulder, which looked like it had bled. "Man, those monsters were annoying."

"You should feel right at home." Jade said without missing a beat.

"Why you-"

A gust of wind picked up before Luke finished his sentence. A loud shriek filled the air once more followed by the shouting of Luke. The gust died down only for us to see that Luke was missing. A bunch of shouts in the air made us look up to see that a garuda was carrying a struggling Luke away.

"Oh no!" Anise gasped. "It got Luke!"

"DON'T JUST STAND THERE AND WATCH IT CARRY ME AWAY! DO SOMETHING!"

"What can we do?" Tear asked. "Casting takes time and Luke is being carried further away."

"It can't be helped then…" Jade muttered taking out his spear. He threw it at the garuda with such speed, and precision, that when it pierced through the bird, and the garuda burst into pieces as Luke fell to the ground. The minute Luke hit the ground, we all ran to him. He was recovering from the fall quite nicely and he was covered in masses of dead bird pieces. He was thoroughly disgusted by the parts of the bird that was on him.

"Next time make it cleaner," Luke snapped at Jade.

Jade pushed his glasses up with an amused look. "Understood, I will make sure that a clean kill takes priority to rescuing you."

That just deepened Luke's frown.

* * *

We all had individual tasks to do when we made camp. Tear went to find a stream to refill the water. Ion stayed at the campsite with Jade as his bodyguard. Celena went…somewhere. She was probably with Tear…I think. Guy and Luke were in charge of cooking and cleaning while Anise and I went to a nearby forest to collect some firewood.

We were pretty lucky with the wood, Jade, for some reason, always chose a place where some sort of forest or wood were close to the camp so that searching for water or wood would be easier. Since I knew nothing about camping or firewood, Anise accompanied me so that I learn to differentiate firewood from ordinary ones. That and it would be 'disastrous' if I was left on my own again. According to Jade.

Anise had an upset look for a small amount of time. She pouted only because she wasn't using the kitchen. Luke had suggested that she take a break from cooking and that she would try his instead for once. She agreed, just this once. And so she was with me. We were returning to camp with a good load of firewood in both in our arms.

"Psst! Did you hear?" Anise whispered to me when Jade and Ion came to view. Ion was looking at the letter that Peony had entrusted him. Jade was standing not too far from Ion, being alert like always.

"Heard what?" I asked.

"Earlier, I asked the Colonel what was his secret for being so strong," she explained. "Do you know what he said?"

"I said that I drink blood," Jade answered before I was able to. Anise made a sound before playfully hiding behind me. "It's not nice talking about people when they're right there."

"Boo, Colonel." Anise placed her hands on her hips. The firewood in her hands fell to the ground making multiple wood clashing sounds. "Anyway, if I didn't know any better, I would think you're a vampire, Colonel."

"Problem with that is that he doesn't spontaneously combust in sunlight, Anise," I pointed out. Although some stuff makes some sense like pale skin, red eyes, an almost nocturnal behavior and a natural killing instinct. Jade raised an eyebrow in interest.

"Maybe he's a different kind of vampire," Anise said with a finger on her cheek. "Like…he could have a different effect like sparkle or something while in the sun."

The first thing that came to mind when I heard sparkling vampire was Twilight. Followed by Edward Cullen. Then Robert Pattinson starring Edward Cullen in the movie. Immediate dislike of the idea.

"I'd take vampire withstanding the sun over a sparkling one any day…" I muttered.

"Why would you not want a sparkling vampire?" Jade asked, pushing his glasses up so that the light of the flame caused a gleam. "If I am a vampire then everyone would be in my _dazzling_ presence."

That…by far…was the worst synonym turned pun I have ever heard.

Anise giggled. It was most likely at my reaction to Jade's sentence. "Anh appears to be speechless."

"I am."

Luke walked over to us. He looked at me before looking at Anise and Jade, his expression read: confused. "I don't know what's going on but I need your help, Anh. Think you can lend me a hand?"

I immediately snapped out of dazing out. "Uh...sure. What for, Luke?"

"Just come over here." He grabbed my arm roughly and pulled me away from the two of them. If I recalled properly, Luke was the one who was suppose to make today's meal. Should he really be pulling time out of the kitchen?

Luke pulled me all the way to the kitchen he was supposed to be using. Guy doesn't seem to be in sight so...now I was really confused. Guy used to be here helping Luke with the kitchen, aiding him as well as pointing out some cooking facts.

"Where's Guy?" I asked Luke. He released my arm and he held out something at me. I wasn't able to determine what the object was nor was I able to determine what was inside of it but something was up. I eyed it with an interested look. "What's that?"

"Blood." Luke answered simply.

Oh, now I get it. Anise must have been going around whispering stuff about Jade drinking blood and Luke must have heard of it from her. That meant I was the last person to hear that from Anise. I eyed the blood suspiciously. Honestly, I don't want to know where that blood came from. "You're...giving that to Jade...?"

"Why not?" Luke asked. "It's to get back at Jade for what he was done to me today."

The site of Luke covered in garuda pieces was actually an amusing one, if the person wasn't Luke that is. I resisted a smile when I recalled the image. Snapping back to reality… "I thought we were pulling a prank on him for what the story he was telling us."

"Well, we're doing that too, but I want to see the look on his face when he drinks the blood."

Now it was making more sense. Luke pulled me here to 'create' a diversion which was making beverage with a somewhat identical shade of blood and pass it around to the entire group while leaving Jade the cup full of blood. It sounded pretty cruel but...I was pretty sure Jade wouldn't notice until the last minute. Since Luke was all 'grr' at me, I might as well give him some slack. He was in charge of today's meal, after all.

"All right," I said, finally. "What's the drink I'm supposed to make?"

"That's for you to figure out," Luke answered. "I've been slaving away collecting the blood most of the time; I wasn't able to do much for dinner."

I gave him a 'not impressed' look at him. "...Thanks, Luke."

* * *

"Here." I held a cup out to Ion. He took it gratefully with a nod as Anise passed him a bowl of what I think should be soup of some sort. I hope there were no vegetables in there but it looked like there were some. Ewww.

"What's in this drink?" Ion asked as I passed a drink to Tear. It looked like he already took a sip out of it.

"Cranberry," I answered. It was the closest 'red' colour that we had in the Wing Pack and making the juice itself was by far the hardest thing I had faced. Squeezing the juice from an orange was pretty difficult but from a cranberry was even harder...! One thing for sure, I was pretty glad we didn't have glass cups because the colour difference between blood and juice was ridiculously evident.

"Tastes delicious," Ion commented. His comment made me smile as I already passed one to Anise and Celena then Luke. Luke passed his drink to Guy as a precaution since Guy couldn't have physical contact with females without a freak out moment. Though that made me sad a bit. I wanna freak him out before dinner begins. Oh well.

I looked over my shoulder to Ion and nodded. "Thanks, Ion."

It was finally Jade's turn to receive his cup. He didn't seem to have noticed what we were up to nor did he look suspicious. Instead of drinking his cup of 'juice', he set the cup down and waited for me to have a seat next to him.

Uh...Oh...

When I sat down, I gave a look at Luke wondering if Jade knew what we were up to. He returned a look at me that kind of told me not to make things suspicious. I narrowed my eyes at him before picking up my bowl of soup and looked around the campfire. Ion sat in between Anise and Tear, Celena was sitting on Tear's right. Guy was sandwiched between Luke and Jade and I was right beside Jade. To my right was a big rock. Yep, a rock. Fun.

"How long are we from the naval port?" Luke asked Celena.

"We're another week and a half away." She answered without looking up from her meal. "Give or take two three days depending on monster encounters as well as breaks."

Luke moaned. "We're still that far away from Master Van? I thought we would reach it sooner."

Guy chuckled beside him. "Patience, Luke. It's not like Van's going to disappear if we're late a couple of days or so."

"But I want to travel beside Master Van!" Luke protested. "Why did he head over to the naval port first? He could have sent her instead." He flicked a thumb towards Celena.

"Van's faster of the two of us," Celena said simply.

Anise looked really shocked. "Really, Lieutenant? I thought it would be the other way around. I mean, you're pretty fast."

"Just because he doesn't look fast doesn't mean he isn't," Celena said. "Although, I'm pretty sure he taught the Kimlasca noble some moves, that kid is still has a lot of things to learn before he is able to best Van in a fight. Besides, I can't match Van in strength or speed. If I was faster than him, I would have taken his position easily."

"Is that why you opt that for Head of the Fon Master Guardians?" Tear asked.

She shrugged in response and the conversation died at that moment. Well…sort of.

"Which reminds me," Jade spoke up, his glasses were pushed up and the gleam appeared on his glasses. "It's been such a stuffy day, how about a story?"

"NO!" Luke and I shouted at the same time.

Jade didn't appeared fazed by our sudden shouted. "Too bad, it wasn't going to be a scary one either."

"You _always_ make it scary, intentionally or not."

"But that would be your minds to think that way. Honestly, you youngsters should think more positively about my stories." Jade pushed his glasses up once more. "Very well, then. Let's change the subject to Guy."

Guy appeared more perturbed by the second when his name was mentioned. "Me? Why?"

"Oh nothing, it's just that we had an agreement."

"What agreement?"

Anise was the first to realize what Jade was talking about. She literally jumped up from her seat and she stood up with a spoon sticking up in the air. "Ah! I forgot to tease Guy in the past couple days!"

The amusement returned to Jade's face. "Exactly, Anise. That's just what I was about to say."

Guy's face paled. Considerably. "Now now, can't we save this until after dinner? Or better yet, tomorrow?"

Celena, appeared quite intrigued to where the conversation was going, placed a hand underneath her chin while eyeing Guy. "This is something someone has to explain to me."

"Guy has a condition called gynophobia." Ion explained.

"Fon Master!" Guy whimpered.

"Why did you tell her that?" Luke asked. "She could be enemy for all we know."

"Luke's right," Tear agreed. "She could be here as a spy for Van."

Then chaos happened.

Luke glared at her. "You really think that Master Van would do something like that? He's your brother!"

"I told you: I don't trust my brother."

"I don't trust you for not trusting Master Van! You could be a spy for that Mohs guy!"

Tear sighed. "This is pointless. We're just going in circles with this."

"None of this would have happened if you didn't try to kill Master Van!"

"Calm down, Master!" Mieu piped up from his position.

"I told you to shut up!"

Guy held Luke down. "Calm down, Luke…"

"If we're talking about suspicions, why don't we question Anh?" Celena asked with a dark grin. Luke and Tear paused as they turned their attention on me.

"What?" I squeaked. "Why me?"

"I can guarantee that Anh is not a spy," Jade spoke up. "And I do not like her being questioned. Though we should be questioning you more than her, Celena."

Celena's eyebrow rose. "Really?" she challenged.

"Why yes, it's not like your history with Asch the Bloody is well hidden."

Luke gaped at her as well as most of the group. I was one of the gaping ones as well. I mean, I knew that she and Asch was pretty friendly with each other but...since when did Jade know that kind of personal information? Celena's brow lowered, and her entire expression turned dark then it changed.

She scoffed. "True, it's not something neither of us would be hiding." She lowered the bowl she was holding to the ground and stood up from her place. "Since I'm deemed as that dangerous, I might as well give you all some space. Not like that's going to help. We leave first thing in the morning, don't forget that." She turned around and abruptly left without another word. She left a trail of silence as we all sat there continuing what we were doing.

Luke groaned as he ruffled his hair. "I knew something was up with her. We should have travelled with Master Van in the first place!"

"It's not like she's a part of the Grand Maestro faction," Ion spoke up.

"What do you mean, Ion?"

Ion lowered his gaze to the fire. "I don't know the details but from what I have heard, Asch has been staying at her place for a few years now."

"So she's his caretaker or something?"

"One would say that." Jade responded as he pushed his glasses up.

"Which reminds me," Luke pointed a finger at Jade's direction. "How do _you_ know something like that?"

"My intelligence told me."

"Liar!"

Oh boy. It went from intense topics to jokes in no time. I got to hand it to Jade to do something like that. I reached for my cup of juice to wash down the plain flavor of the soup Luke made.

Then the iron taste invaded my senses and I immediately recoiled. I turned my head away from Jade and spat out the liquid as I coughed. I also spat a couple of times to get rid of the lingering taste of blood. I used my sleeve to remove whatever was on my lips, my sleeve was dark so I wouldn't be worried about the blood stains on it. This wasn't the first time I tasted blood, well…the blood I tasted was my own and a monster's blood was just plain nasty. That wasn't what bothered me. What bothered me more was that my drink was switched with Jade's…by Jade himself.

That guy…he…!

…was a fucking bastard!

"What's wrong with you?" Luke asked, irritated.

"Is something wrong, Anh?" Anise asked me. She walked over to me with a somewhat concerned look. "Did a bug fly into your drink?"

Jade was watching me with a hawk-like expression. "I think I put too much sugar in mine." I lied, lifting the cup a little. "I didn't like the taste of mine so I added few more teaspoon of sugar to make it sweeter. Seems like I put too much in it so it's overly sweet."

"You want to switch with mine then?" she asked.

And taste blood that was meant for Jade? Hell no. Even I wouldn't be that mean to her. I shook my head to decline her offer. "Thanks by no thanks, Anise. I'll just go dump the juice in a stream for the fish or something." I stood up and took my bowl and the cup of blood with me as I walked over to the forest to find a stream.

"Hey, Anh, wait up." I heard Luke call from behind me. I stopped to wait for him to catch up to me. Like me, Luke was carrying his cup and bowl with him. When he caught up, we began walking but not before Luke gave Jade a look over his shoulder. We kept walking until the campsite was out of view. Luke had occasionally looking over his shoulder in case someone had followed us. Or maybe he was waiting for a chance to say something when no one was around.

"What happened back there?" he asked when he was finally sure that no one was there. "I thought you gave Jade that drink!"

"I did!" I protested. "He switched it with mine!"

"How did that happen?"

"How was I supposed to know? You're saying I should have kept a better eye on my drink? I didn't think he would know about the blood!"

Luke's face twisted to something that looked like a grumpy one. Neither of us said anything more than that, instead we kept walking. The sound of leaves crunching beneath our feet and twigs snapping was all that was heard between us. There was the occasional shifting of the bowl and cup by that was pretty much it. Then I realized something…

"Wait…Who's doing the dishes?" I asked out loud coming to a complete stop. Luke had taken a couple steps ahead of me before he stopped. He, too, was probably thinking about it as well.

"I think Guy is…" He answered looking over his shoulder.

I blinked a couple of times before turning to a nearby bush and dumping the blood onto it. If there was some sort of monster near here, the smell of blood should attract it to here before the campsite.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Since Guy's washing the dishes, I might as well just give him the cup to clean," I answered Luke. I shook the cup a couple of times to make sure whatever was left would just drip out. Hopefully Guy doesn't notice the blood stains in the cup by the time he washes the dishes. "Okay let's head back."

Luke muttered something underneath his breath before complying. A slight breeze picked up and the leaves swayed to the light touch of the breeze. I looked up at the sky to see the moon illuminating beautifully in the sky. The hue it gave off seemed pure and comforting. At the same time, I noticed the shape of a person sitting on a large branch, looking up to the moon like I was. The expression she held was…

"Why are you slowing down?" Luke asked me from far ahead. My head snapped down to see that Luke was a good distance away from me. I didn't realize that I slowed down to watch Celena peering at the moon. Luke looked irritated as ever as he waited for me. "Hurry up!"

"Coming!" I called to Luke, before taking off. I caught up to Luke and we continued walking back to the camp. Though I couldn't help but notice the expression Celena had while looking at the moon.

She looked, for some reason…lonely.

* * *

"How about we try giving him food he doesn't like?" Luke suggested the next day. We were all preparing for today's road trip but first! We need breakfast. Done by Anise!

Although Anise wasn't that pleased with the soup from last night, she was still head over heels over Luke. She also suggested that Luke should let her do the cooking because it was a 'woman's job' to cook for the husban-I mean-man. That sentence aside, today's breakfast was waffles. Nicely done, soft, fuffy and sweet waffles. My mouth completely watered at the sight of her waffles and adding powdered sugar and syrup just added more to it.

"I guess we could try that…" I muttered, taking a bite of the waffle. "The problem with that is that I don't know what he like or hates."

Luke groaned. "I thought you would know since you're his Lieutenant Colonel."

"Nope. No friggin clue."

"You're useless."

"So are you."

Now that I think about it… What did Jade hate? I mean Fomicry was a sore spot to him but I rather not push that button. It was like yanking a tiger by the tail. There was also Dist but I think the relationship between Jade and Dist was more like a friendly teasing/bullying relationship. Sure, Jade gets irritated from time to time but aside from that…

What did he hate…?

"You really don't know anything about him, do you?" Luke asked.

"No…" I sighed in defeat. There wasn't much about him from the game. All people knew about him was that he was from Keterburg, he was the creator of Fomicry, his last name was actually Balfour and he was a best friend to the Emperor. There were probably more facts to that but other than that, his history was in the unknown zone.

Something hard smacked lightly against my forehead and my line of vision was blocked by something. I grabbed whatever it was, it felt like a book, and removed it from my forehead. From the looks of it, it looked like Luke's diary.

"Uh…"

"I found a page in my diary regarding a prank we could pull on Jade," Luke said, taking the diary back. He began to flip through the pages. When he found the page he was looking for he passed the diary back to me to read it.

I scowled at him taking the diary from him. Honestly, why didn't he explain the situation himself?

Looking down at the diary entry, it was titled 'The slit mouth woman'. I was getting better at the reading part, but it was definitely going to take a while.

_

* * *

_

_Today, I read a book talking about a woman who was apparently beautiful but vain. I'm not going into details about it but from what I've read; her husband got jealous and slit her mouth from ear to ear. She was probably cheating on him. Huh, serves her right. If she hadn't cheated on him he wouldn't have done that to her. Anyway, she turned into a malevolent spirit that now wears a surgical mask. She targets children and students asking them if she was pretty. If they say yes, then she takes off her mask, revealing her scarred face, and repeats the question again. If the person says no, she kills them after slicing their mouth to look like hers. If they say yes, she follows you and kills you at your doorstep…_

_

* * *

_

I stared blankly at the last sentence that I read. I turned to Luke giving him a really dull look. "Really, Luke? Really? This is your big plan?"

"The book was far scarier than what I written down!" Luke protested. "Besides, it's not like you have a better plan!"

No I honestly don't. I rolled my eyes at him. "How are we supposed to pull this off? I mean, the mask, the weapon, the person-" Then it hit me. "Oh no. I'm not going to be that woman."

"I'm not a woman and you agreed to this."

"I agreed to nothing! I just want to pull a prank on him!"

"This _is_ the prank!"

I sighed. Of for the love of…! I rubbed my temple as if I was completely exhausted by just talking to Luke. Somehow I get the feeling that this plan was totally going to backfire. Just like the blood.

* * *

The next few days consisted of walking, walking and more walking. Luke and I weren't hanging about at the back of the group like we had a couple days ago. Since the battle with the garuda, I think it would be better if we both keep the formation we had originally planned with the rest of the group in case of another attack. Although I was still pretty upset about Luke, we still kept planning about the prank. I, unfortunately, had to be the one to be that slit mouth woman. Luke made it sound so easy.

'_Just pull the hood of your cloak over your head and speak in a creepy voice.'_

Easier said than done, Luke.

And how would this 'creepy' voice work? I had a voice where I could go up an octave or two, but that was only when I spot something cute. Was I supposed to think of something cute and then talk? That wouldn't work because I wouldn't act scary at all. I would act more like…a girl fangirlling about something. I couldn't even do a low key at all. It just sounded…weird.

In about a week, we would arrive in the Kaitzur Naval point. That meant we had to pull the prank sometime soon. And by soon, Luke meant tonight.

With my cloak draped over me, I laid in silence in the dark in my make-shift bed. The cloak combined with the blanket made lying there completely unbearable. It was like being cooked alive in an oven or something similar to it. I turned over to the side many times waiting for Luke to hurry the hell up and get right down to the plan. But nooo! He ended up volunteering to be a watch after me and then Jade was after Luke for that role.

Hurry up, Luke…!

Opening an eye just slightly, I saw Jade sitting in front of the fire just staring at it. He just…sat there, staring at the fire as if something might happen. A chill went up my spine as if something might happen to the plan. How did I get myself dragged into to this was absolutely beyond me. I only wanted to pull a prank _with_ Luke not _be_ the one _doing_ the damn prank. Ugh.

Jade's attention went from the fire and towards me. I instantly closed the partially opened eye shut hoping he didn't see me spying on him. I turned over to my other side so that my back was on Jade. Since I had been doing that for quite some time now, I just hoped that Jade hadn't figure out that I was awake. There was a long awkwardly pause between us.

A really, _really_ long one.

The fire made a snapping sound and I heard a pair of feet crunching towards the group. That should indicate that Luke was returning to the campsite.

"Thank you for your hard work," Jade said sarcastically to the person approaching him.

There was a snort and it sounded like that was Luke. "It's not like I wanted to do this."

"But you even put some effort being lookout; it must be tough on you."

"Are you just going to make sarcastic comments or are you going to go to your post?" Luke asked, completely irritated.

"Yes, of course." From the sound that followed Jade's last sentence, it sounded like he was getting up or shifting or something. "Well, then, I shall be going on my way. Please enjoy the rest of the night off, Master Luke."

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that."

"But of course, _Master_ Luke."

"You…"

"You shouldn't keep me occupied any further; I still need to get to my post."

"Just go then."

There was a long pause before Jade left the campfire. A good few minutes passed before I decided to sit up from my bed and stripped the cover off. A light cool feeling replaced the hot air I was laying underneath of and I fanned myself with my cloak.

"I thought I was going to roast myself alive." I sighed in relief.

Luke crossed his arms staring at Jade's direction. "I thought he was never going to leave. Now hurry up. We don't have much time."

"Yeah yeah yeah," I responded getting up.

* * *

There he stood, back leaned against a tree trunk, looking quite relaxed. He was occasionally checking the area where the holy bottle was poured onto the ground. He was probably checking if it was still working. But most of the time, he held his back on us. Almost as if he was saying 'I'm here, my back is on you. Attack me'. Somehow I got that kind of vibe from staring at his back. Most of the time he was just leaning against the tree. Watching.

...Waiting.

"Go!" Luke hissed beside me. I shot him an angry glare before complying. Pulling the hood over my head and covering the majority of my face. I looked at the ground to avoid any type of thing that would make a noise if I were to step on it. It was pretty unsuccessful but I was doing my best. While I heard my own footsteps, I was pretty sure it was quiet enough for Jade not to hear me.

That was…before I stepped on a twig.

It snapped loudly and, out of instinct, I lifted my foot from place. Looking down, I swore silently at the sight of the twig and looked back at Luke. He signaled me to keep on going regardless of what had just happened. Making a face at him, I turned to Jade who appeared to have not budged from his position. Taking a deep breath I crept up to him and tugged his uniform from behind.

The next thing was something neither Luke nor I was expecting.

"What is it, Anh?" Jade asked without looking behind him. I felt completely stiff when he said my name. My mind just shut down the minute he said it and my throat became suddenly dry as if I was standing in the desert for hours. My heart felt like it was about to burst from my chest and I think my face just lost its colour.

Still tugging his sleeve, I thought of a word to say to him. "Dare?"

I bit my lower lip as soon as I said that. Oh smart. The first word that came to mind just happened to be a Japanese word. It was worse since Luke was nearby too!

"I know that's you, Anh," Jade continued. His back remained fixated on me and he still didn't move. "If you continue playing these games, you'll eventually hurt yourself."

I opened my mouth to say something but suddenly I heard Luke cried out. That caused me to jump and cling onto Jade's arm. Next thing I knew, a hand grabbed my shoulder and I looked into what looked like Anise's face with a light shining right underneath it.

"Am I pretty~?" she asked darkly. That tone sent shivers up my spine as I shrieked and clung onto Jade's waist, holding onto him desperately. Trembling, I buried my face on his chest averting my eyes from Anise.

It was followed by laughter. Anise's and Jade's.

"Well, that was quite amusing." Jade said, patting my shoulder. "Thank you for lending me your aid, Anise."

"No problem, Colonel~" Anise giggled. "Anh's reaction was completely hilarious! Now about that 10, 000 Gald you promised me."

"10, 000?" Jade repeated. "I was pretty sure it was 1, 000 Gald I agreed to give you."

"Oh, come on, Colonel," Anise whined. "Backing out on an agreement, that's low even for you."

"Although my body is not up to standards, my memory is something you shouldn't be joking about. We agreed to 1,000 Gald."

"Booo!"

I felt someone poke me on the back causing me to tighten my hold on Jade. "Anh~ You can let go now. There's no slit mouth woman out to get you~"

"Uuu…" I whined, shaking my head. "Yadda! Kowai! Kowai yo!"

Anise sighed. "And now she's mumbling gibberish…"

"Well, I hope you and Luke both learned a lesson here," Jade spoke up. "If you want to do something like this, try to be more subtle about your choices and who to pull it on."

"I can't believe you asked Guy and me to teach them both a lesson, Colonel," Anise said. "You could have done it all by yourself without our help."

"But I'm old; pulling that kind of manoeuvre is difficult when you're the intended target. Besides, you youngsters are much swifter than I am. It's better if I let you both do that instead of myself. Less work on me, am I correct?"

"…If you look up 'villain' in the dictionary, I bet you will find Jade's face right beside it." I heard Guy muttered. I also heard Luke moan a bit.

"Definitely~"

* * *

Uneventful days were uneventful. I felt like being redundant because the days were ridiculously redundant themselves. Wake up early in the morning, breakfast, walk, lunch, more walking, make camp, dinner, watch out duty, then bed. And repeat for the next few days.

Luke and I haven't been talking to each other since the incident with Jade. I wasn't able to get the chance to either. He was either busy with Guy or I was busy myself. Dinner never helped either because the conversation kind of died halfway through. I didn't feel like talking to either Anise or Jade because they were just plain mean. Well…Anise was mainly teasing, while Jade was just mean entirely.

A big old meanie that was what he was.

"Is something the matter?" Ion asked suddenly. "You and Luke haven't been talking to each other recently and you refuse to talk to Anise as well."

"Nothing really," I sighed. "It's just that neither of us want to talk."

"Funny how Luke said almost the same thing," Ion replied. "You both seemed to have gotten along pretty well."

"That was only because they were planning something against the Colonel," Tear spoke up. "Honestly, why would they do such a thing?"

I looked over my shoulder and at Tear. She, unlike me, held a straight posture. I pouted at her. "Why don't you ask Luke about it, Tear?"

"Neither of us wanted to talk to the other either," she stated simply. Tear looked at the opposite direction of where Luke would be.

"Copycat."

"It's true, however," Tear said, turning her head back at Ion and I. "Unlike you, Anh, Luke doesn't have a reason to doubt you. You can just go up to him and talk normally like nothing had happened. Though I should recommend you not to do something dastardly like what you both did during that night."

"But it was quite intriguing," Ion chuckled. "Who knew that Luke and Anh were plotting against Jade because of the scary story in Kaitzur? That and Jade, of all people, knew what they were up to."

"Mean old man was mean," I grumbled.

Jade, who was listening in on the conversation, pulled both of his hands out of his pocket and raised them from his side. "Oh come now, I'm not _that_ mean."

"Yes you are." Luke, Guy, Anise and I said simultaneously. Not too long after, Anise and I burst out laughing while Jade raised an interested eyebrow at the four of us. I was laughing so hard, I even had to stop to gasp for air while I clutch my stomach. Once we stopped laughing, Anise and I took deep breaths to calm ourselves down.

"If you all are done goofing around," Celena spoke up from ahead of us. "We should get going. We can make it to the Kaitzur naval port in a few hours."

"We're going to meet Master Van pretty soon?" Luke looked more excited than he used to. "Come on you guys. I want to meet Master Van as soon as possible."

"Again with your Master Van," I sighed.

"You got a problem with that?"

"No not at all." A grin spread across my face as soon as I said that sentence. Luke gave me an irritated look before he walked ahead of us. I laughed before catching up with him. "Oh come on, Luke. It was a joke, a joke~"

"Didn't sound like one to me."

"You need to work on your joke detecting skills, Luke."

"See? Even Guy's agreeing with me. High five, Guy!"

"Aaaah!"

"Whoops. Sorry, Guy. I forgot~"

What I knew when we got to Kaitzur naval port was that it was badly damaged by Arietta. What I didn't know about it was that the naval port was set ablaze while the screams and shouts of soldiers and monsters alike.

* * *

**I have been glued to too much Vampire Knight these days. Too much Vampire Knight… Heart Miyano Mamoru (seiyuu for Flynn in Tales of Vesperia) for voicing Zero! And I didn't know that Takehito Koyasu (seiyuu for Jade) voiced the Headmaster in the Drama CD. I lol'd when I heard him overreact. I can also write most of his name in Kanji now! Everything but the 'take' part. *cough* Anyway…**

**I was sad to see only one person giving me an idea to pull a prank on Jade. D: Sad face is sad. And yes I know Japanese. I'm actually taking it in university (it's my minor). ****XD I would write it in Hiragana/Kanji but I'm lazy. So…****Nihongo o wakarimasu ka~? ****Mochiron nihongo o wakarimasen. No Google Translate you guys.**

**Also: Dare (pronounced Da-re not 'dare' as in I dare you to do this) means 'who'.  
Yadda (yad-da): No.  
Kowai (ko-wa-i): Scary**

**Nothing to bring up for grabs right now. I have been neglecting Tales of Hearts for Rune Factory. If only AC works on my computer at home. I would get everything done faster. DX**

**Review please~ Progress will be made in the next chapter!**


	16. Chapter 15: Fire

**Pardon the over half a year update. I just didn't get it in me to write for some reason and then second semester rolled around and shit happened. And ****Tales of Vesperia and Tales of Graces f in all of their Japanese glory totally didn't help me either. It was more like…a distraction. All hail the Code Geass (sort of) references in Graces. And a shout out to my new found love to my newest bishi collection: Graces' own Richard. XD He's so fun and Daisuke Namikawa totally made him 500% more awesome. *hearts***

**PS: I am beta-less. So hopefully it's not that bad now that Mieu's gone. o_o**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToA, there's just so much more I would like to add if I did own it.**

* * *

**Chapter 15: Fire**

The large cloud of black smoke had caught our attention and was telling us to increase our pace towards the naval port.

By the time we made it there, my eyes widened at the destruction that was laid before us. Piles of corpses of fallen soldiers laid on top of each other with the occasional dead monster lying right beside (or between) the bodies. The soldiers had a variety of cuts and some body parts were bitten off by ligers or by something with large jaws. The monsters looked like they have been pierced by a sword or axe or even a spear. Speaking of spear, most of the dead ones carried a spear on their backs and their blood stained the ground with a familiar red iron-scented hue. The cries of soldiers in battle followed by the shriek and roars of monsters filled the air and fire was already spreading from one building to the next and the wind was only adding more oil to the fire.

Beside me, Luke faltered, taking one step away from the corpses near the entrance. A hand covered his mouth as he tried his best not to look too disgusted by the mess though his eyes told the entire story. I took a step behind Jade and gripped his arm, terrified. I looked away from the horrible images so that I didn't suddenly throw up at the sight them. The images that continued to haunt my thoughts were not aiding my cause. Nearby I saw Ion narrowing his eyes in sadness at the bodies as he gripped his staff tighter until his knuckles looked like they were about to go white. Anise, too, looked forlorn at the sight and Guy made a face that told me he didn't like the sight of them either. Even Mieu cowered in Ion's arm; he seemed to have hidden his face on Ion's chest, his ears were tucked between his face and Ion's chest with his little paws keeping his ears down. Currently, the baby cheagle was shivering in fear. The remaining three that were with us remained emotionless.

"What…what just happened here?" Luke muttered as Guy walked past him to examine one of the bodies. The blood that seeped from the lifeless body crept its way towards Guy, staining his boots as it formed a puddle around his feet.

"It looks like it was done not too long ago," Guy declared as he returned to the group. He looked back at the bodies. "Though, who could have done this?"

Anise walked over to one of the monsters that was dead and backed away. "This is one of Gloomietta's pets."

"Gloomietta?" Guy repeated, looking quite confused. Anise quickly turned around, staring furiously at Guy. She charged over to him with such speed; it caught him off guard. A strangled 'aah!' escaped from his lips as she stood right in front of him.

"Arietta!" she explained loudly, yanking Guy's vest in the process. It looked like she was trying to pull him down to her height considering the huge height difference between the two. The only thing that was keeping him from being reduced to her height was the proximity of their closeness and, of course, his irrational fear. "The God-General, Arietta the Wild!"

"O-okay, okay! I get it, stop touching me! Please!" Guy begged, backing away from her. But…that was a wrong move on Guy's part. Right behind his feet was a piece of…something. He stepped on it, losing his balance and he, along with Anise, toppled over and onto the ground. Anise, who had no problem adjusting to it, just sat on top of Guy and arms crossed.

Somehow I kinda felt sorry for him at this moment.

"It sounds like there's more fighting in the harbor," Tear spoke up as another roar filled the air. "Let's go."

She darted off towards the harbor with Luke and Celena in hot pursuit. Jade, Ion and I stayed behind, though. Jade turned to Guy with a highly amused look on his face. He adjusted his glasses before saying, "I'm sure you're enjoying yourself, Guy, but we'd best be going."

"G-g-get her away from me…!" Guy pleaded towards the soldier, though he didn't head Guy. Instead, Jade shot him what looked like an amused/sadistic look before leaving him there.

Feeling sorry for him, I sighed, taking a step closer to the two of them. Giving a hand to Anise, I said, "Come on, Anise."

* * *

By the time the port came into view, a good handful of soldiers were still trying to take down some monsters. They…looked like they were on the losing side so we lended them a hand, despite an old man's futile protests. I had Ion right behind me because our best soldiers, as well as the ones that was protecting our back, was already ahead Ion and I. Up ahead of us was Van and a few Kimlascan soldiers fending off the monsters. Er...From my point of view, it looked like Van was the only one fending the monsters off. I mean...The soldiers looked like they were trying to protect some engineers that were with them. And if the soldiers were protecting the engineers then that means Van would be the one protecting the soldiers.

And he was doing a pretty good job at that.

"Master Van!" Luke shouted as he drew his sword and charged right into battle. Some monsters noticed the charging Luke and changed their targets. Van started shouting some orders to the soldiers and on his signal, engineers fled to an open area with the soldiers flanking their sides.

"Tear!" Jade spoke up to the fonist beside him. "Take Anh and Ion to the soldiers and engineers and tend to the wounded."

Tear nodded in response. "Understood." She motioned towards Ion and I and the three of us part ways from the main group that was taking the monsters head on.

When we caught up to the engineers and soldiers, the soldiers were already standing in attention and ready for any battle that might happen. Some engineers had scrapes and bruises, others had broken bones and...missing limbs. Oh, gross. That was just nasty. One engineer's side was torn open and his guts were flowing out of the sides. His hands were bloodied as he tried to prevent the parts from falling out even further. He was breathing heavily and he was panicking, muttering he didn't want to die and all but his companions were encouraging him that he was going to live.

Tear noticed my expression and she followed my line of sight. "That does look really bad."

"We should tend to the injured as soon as possible," Ion suggested as he moved towards the injured. Tear nodded as she moved to heal the injured. Since I was unable to do anything in the area of healing, I helped the Kimlascan soldiers guarding the area.

Well, I was about to until some guy got bit on the arm by a pouncing liger, knocking them both over onto the ground. The other soldiers surrounded the liger, attempting to kill it. However, the weapons bounced off of the fur which reminded me of an incident very similar to that of the liger queen's - it wouldn't get hurt unless it was soaked in water. And unfortunately for us, our only spell caster that used water magic was currently elsewhere.

Which meant we were left to fend for it ourselves.

Not that I was hyped up about doing a suicide mission.

"Stand firm, you idiots!" one man roared, raising his weapon. "There is only one of them and many of us! We can take it down together!"

Yeah…like that was going to work.

"Anh," Tear spoke up as she approached me. Her head tilted upwards and noticed the liger and the screams of agony that were filling the air. "Here's what we'll do. Anh, you head to the liger's right and distract it. I need time to cast."

"Got it," I told Tear, lifting up my rifle. It was easier said than done but it was worth a shot. I ran over to the left of the liger, which was still mauling over that poor solider's arm. The two of them were having a little face-off with each other while the other soldiers were smacking the beast with their weapons. With the rifle loaded and all, I aimed my weapon at the liger. Now I wished the soldiers that were beating the liger would get the hell out of my way.

"Disperse!" someone shouted and the soldiers ran like the devil was behind them.

I didn't waste any time at all. I fired at the liger, barely missing the eye. The bullet ricocheted off of the liger and it turned its head this way. I turned my head over Tear and she had a faint white FOF circle underneath her. Dammit, she wasn't done!

Turning my attention to the liger, it started growling in my direction and… Was pacing itself towards my direction…! Oh god, oh god. Uh, uh…what should I do now? Now that I finally got its attention, _what was I suppose to do now?_

A man huffed as he stood not too far from me, raising his sword against the liger. "I don't care if you're from Malkuth, girl, but leaving a female to fend off a monster by herself would leave a bad taste in my mouth."

I didn't really know what to say to that. "Uh…thanks?"

"You can thank me later, girl, _after _we deal with this thing."

Riiight… I unloaded the empty shell in my rifle as I rolled my eyes at him. Quickly changing the topic at hand, I set my eyes on the liger which was currently deciding who to target. The person who was close to charging at it or the defenseless me. I half-expected it to go for the guy but it was a lot smarter than I gave credit for and went straight towards me. I froze on the spot, dropping a bullet in the process. Just as it was about to strike me, my view was completely blocked by something big and metal-like.

"What the hell are you doing?" the person grunted as he parried with the liger. "Move that damned feet of yours!"

I snapped back to my senses and glared at the guy. I averted my eyes away from the two of them, looking for my dropped bullet. I found it, of course, rolling towards the harbour. "Shit!" I ran towards it like no tomorrow. No way in hell was I going to let that one go.

"Wha- Stupid!" that guy shouted at me as the liger knocked him sideways and charged in my direction.

_Shit! Shitshitshitshit!_ For the next few instances, things felt like they were going in slow-mo. I dove for my bullet. From the back of my back, I could feel that the liger was closing in. I successfully grabbed the bullet, landed on my side and loaded rifle. Tear had finished casting her spell. A huge hammer that was frozen appeared above the liger and landed straight on its head. Seconds after, I shot the liger with my rifle and the blast side-effect of the bullet caused me to cover myself.

I was panting hard as the liger before me was shaking its head violently; pawing its face like something was in its eyes. Tear was right at my side casting First Aid while I helped myself up.

"Did we get it?" I asked her, immediately feeling the effect of First Aid.

"It doesn't look like it." She responded, raising her weapon.

And just like she said, the liger wasn't down. It turned its head towards us growling like a mad beast, one eye was closed due to a possible injury. Lightning formed in its mouth.

"Holy shi- It's not down for the count!" I shouted, scrambling up.

Suddenly it closed its mouth and looked up; ears twitching. A growl escaped from its mouth before it retreated. I stared at it, surprised. Uh…did I miss something? "It left. Just like that?"

"I noticed Arietta flying off so, yes, it appears to have left when Arietta left," Tear nodded in agreement. "Though it doesn't look like it would be the last time we'll see it." Luke and the others had already came over to us, blood stained their outfits. "What happened to the ship?"

"Inoperable," Guy answered, sheathing his blade. "According to Van, Arietta took the engineer in charge of repairing the ship. She also demanded that we bring Ion and Luke to Choral Castle. Right now, Van and Celena are tracking her down. Hopefully, they come back with the engineer."

Anise pouted, crossing her arms. She, at the very least, wasn't covered in blood like the rest of them. "That Gloomietta, she's always asking for trouble. Now we're going to be delayed big time thanks to this."

"Van said that there's a training ship on its way back here," Guy continued, his hand held out. "That would take a few days though. I'd say it's best if we wait for the two to return to give us a confirmation. Aside from that, there's nothing we can do now but to put out the fire and tend to the wounded."

Again, Tear nodded. "Sounds like it's the best course we can take for now."

"So, we can leave Jade to douse out the fire," Guy said, pointing to the flames. "He's the only one who can put out the fire with the minimal effort. Luke and I can look for a building that wasn't badly damaged by the fire so we can put the wounded in. Everybody else can tend the wounded."

Jade sighed, shrugging lightly. "So much work to attend to, you youngsters are working me to the bone." He tucked his hands in his pockets, nonchalantly, and walked over to the flames as if he had an entire day to get rid of them.

"As if his work is the hardest thing he has ever done..." Luke mumbled. Guy chuckled before patting Luke on the shoulder and directing him to another area.

"Let's get to work," Tear spoke up. Anise and I nodded as they all went over to Ion who was chatting with the engineers there. Just before I followed them, a shadow stopped beside me. I looked to the side to see that they guy that helped Tear and I with the liger looking down at me. Our eyes were locked before he broke it and head towards his soldiers. I scoffed.

What's his problem?

* * *

The casualty rate was higher than I expected. Luckily, Guy and Luke had found a somewhat decent building to send the wounded guys in. There were a number of injuries from scrapes to broken bones and ribs to...things even Tear's healing artes couldn't heal. With his part of the work done, Jade was helping Anise prepare a meal for the entire crew. Ion and I were bandaging the ones that wasn't hurt that bad. Most of the time, Ion was talking about cheerful topics to the engineers and they seemed to be having a really good time.

"You're going to be fine," I assured an engineer after I tightened the bandage around his wrist. I lightly pat his wrist before I walked off to the entrance and laid my head against the cold metal. My eyes stared aimlessly at the setting sun that looked so beautiful despite the ugliness that had happened earlier. I heard Ion walked over to where I was, gazing at the sun. I cracked a small smile at him. "How's it going at your side, Ion?"

"I'm just as tired as you are," Ion answered as he moved out of the way as Guy half -ragged/carried a dead body out of the building. Luke, who was supposed to be with Guy, was nowhere in sight. Ion shook his head sadly. "That would make the third one today."

I watch him carry the body and dumped it on a pile of carcass we all planned to burn later. "How many more people do we have to watch die before our eyes before this ends?"

Ion shook his head, sadly. "I don't know, Anh. I don't know."

I sighed. War. If this was what war felt like, I surely wouldn't want to volunteer to such a thing. Too much bad things comes out of it.

"I knew I recognize you somewhere," a voice spoke up, breaking the silence between Ion and I. A fist flew out of nowhere, smacking right into my shoulder and knocking me forward. I cursed, rubbing my shoulder that was starting to feel sore. Turning around, I saw that it was the guy from earlier. "It's the weak girl."

"It's the guy that got his ass kicked by a liger." I countered, jabbing a finger in his direction. He wasn't wearing his ridiculously heavy looking armour and he was wearing a cast on his left arm that was in a sling. His cheek had a band-aid on it and a longer bandage wrapped around his forehead.

The guy feigned hurt, looking more interested than hurt. "Hey, I have a name, you know."

"Well, so do I."

"Then give out your name, girly."

"You stop calling me that first!"

"What? Do you prefer weakling then?"

"Uh…" Ion spoke up. "May I interrupt for a second here?"

The guy turned his head towards Ion and a grin spread across his face. He held out a hand towards Ion as he said, "Fon Master! I thank you for your help. I'm Captain Lawrence Alcrosse."

Hey.

"Oh, no, I did what I can," Ion told him, shaking his hand. "I'm just glad that I can be of assistance."

"What are you talking about?" the Lawrence guy laughed. "It's because you're here talking to those guys, they are a lot more cheerful because of you and not because of this useless gal here." His thumb jabbed towards my direction.

Ion casted a look in my direction and smiled. I was probably making a pissed off look or something. Ion then spoke up, "Anh's doing her best here, too."

He gawked at Ion. "Really? I'd say she's more useful as liger bait than anything else."

Oh, that did it!

I was just about to punch him until someone spoke up.

"Fon Master Ion, Anh. Anise is currently working me to the bone hence the reason I am here is to tell you both that the preparations of dinner is done." Jade popped up behind me as he said that. I jumped away from him as if he was a leper. Jade raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "And, may I ask, just what are you doing, Anh?"

I held my hands up in the air. "Huh? N-nothing!"

"Yeah, right," Lawrence scoffed. "Looks like the gal was about to punch me."

"I was so not!"

"Oh, really?" he asked me, a hand on top of my head. "So, what are you planning to do then? Cheer like a fool? Stretch? Yawn?"

"My, you two seem awfully familiar with each other," Jade commented, an evil grin spread across his face as he pushed his glasses up. "Since when did you became friends with him, Anh?"

"Who became friends with _who_?" I shouted at him, turning towards him.

"She's right," I heard Jake agree with me. "Who wants to be friends with someone like her? First of all, we're on opposite ends here. Second, no offense to Malkuth or anything, but, for a Malkuth soldier, she's absolutely useless in battle."

I turned around, ready to beat the crap out of him. "You-"

A hand held me in place before I was able to take one step closer to Lawrence.

"My apologies," Jade spoke up. He raised an open palm towards Lawrence. "Colonel Jade Curtiss. Third Division, Malkuth Imperial Forces."

Lawrence shook it with a wry smile. "I've heard of your name. Everybody on Auldrant knows the Necromancer's name very well. You mentioned dinner earlier, right? I'll let the guys that can move their arms know."

"I'll help feed those that couldn't." Ion took a step towards Lawrence with determination. Though the older man held a hand up.

"No, you can rest. Some of these guys are itching to move something anyway." Lawrence walked off before Ion could protest. Jade sighed, shrugging.

"I would take up on his offer, Ion," he suggested.

I rolled my eyes. "It's something you would _always_ do when given the chance…"

* * *

_Loreleiday, Sylph Decan 6, ND 2018._

_The total number of soldiers and engineers that died in the Kaitzur port battle and was set on fire the night before was 27. About 46 of the Kaitzur port residents had sustained non-fatal injuries. 15 lost limbs and were permanently handicapped. The number of deaths is decreasing day by day and Master Van has been gone for a few days now. Still no sign of a ship returning to the port._

"-'Man, I want to go home now'." I read before Luke slammed his diary shut. He tucked the diary in his jacket and madly whipped around giving me a perturbed expression.

"What the- Don't you know how to knock?"

I straightened myself up and sighed. "Jade said not to cause you would say 'Go away, I'm busy' for the entire day. For a guy that keeps his records on the casualties, you sure know how to waste your day. I'm glad that the doors don't have locks otherwise someone's going to have to break it down to get to you."

"It's not like I got anything better to do!" Luke huffed, turning away.

"Better to help us than wait til a certain thirty-five year old man complain about a certain seventeen year old lack of motivation," I told him. "Besides, it's just the little things you need to do like help Guy carry some dead bodies or even talking to them."

"Well, what are you doing?" A sneer spread across his face.

"I'm supposed to help Anise in the kitchen but I stopped by here cause Jade asked me to. Better me than him, trust me."

Luke looked down at the ground before lifting his head up slightly. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

I titled my head to the side curiously. What could he be asking me about now? "Yeah?"

"You were helping the wounded soldiers on the side, right?"

"Yeah…" When I wasn't helping Anise in the kitchen; rather, when neither of us had any cooking to do, she and I would be with Ion and Tear bandaging some soldiers, having light conversations with them and would often notice Luke walking by them with an indescribable expression on his face as he looked at our direction. The said redhead would then turn his head away quickly when one of us were to look in his general direction. "What about it?"

"How was it like when someone died right before your eyes? When it's-" he paused to take a deep breath. "-it's not someone you killed."

The faces of many of those that died came into my mind. Some of them were people I had talked to had mentioned having a wife or husband and a few kids here and there. Others would mention a companion or a lover, wishing they would have seen them one last time before this tragic event. I helplessly watched them drew their last breath before falling into a deep slumber. Then I would watch their bodies be burned during that evening as tears would fall from my eyes just as they were falling from my face now.

My vision became blurred as tears fell helplessly from my face. The only thing that was clear was the images of those that had died.

Luke recoiled in his seat. "Why are you crying? Was it something I said?"

"Obviously," I sobbed, wiping the tears from my face. They continued falling, dampening my sleeves. "Why did you mention such a thing? Do you realize how many times I have to relive that for the past few days?"

"Jeez, for a soldier, you sure tear easily."

"It's because I'm crying for them!" My head snapped up furiously. "For those people that died begging to live a few days longer to see their families. For those people that died with a smile and not with a single tear down their face. For those people that knew that they were dying and fearing for their end that was just around the corner. A jerk like you wouldn't understand because he'd rather walk around with nothing to do than make their final moments easier to bear!" I lowered my head, onto my sleeve, allowing the tears to soak the fabric while my other hand was wiping whatever was falling.

"Fine. Fine! You hear me! I said fine!" Luke cried out in defeat. "Tell me what to do or whatever. Just…stop crying."

I sniffled a bit. Well, that did made me stop crying. Tears weren't falling out like mad like they were before. "You promise to help out?"

I saw an upset expression but he huffed, "Fine."

"Help Guy carry out the dead bodies if someone died?"

"Only if their blood doesn't go all over me."

"Talk to some of the soldiers to make them feel better?"

"If it's a few minutes, I don't care."

"Give this old man a shoulder massage when he asks you to?" a new voice added.

"_Who said I should do _that?"

A hand grabbed my shoulder and I immediately knew that it was Jade. The Malkuth soldier shrugged lightly as the expression of Luke turned sour. "Tsk tsk, Luke, making a girl cry."

"It wasn't my fault!" Luke jabbed a finger towards the door. "And who said it was okay to barge into my room?"

"The door was opened so I let myself in," Jade answered with a hint of humour in his tone. "And might I add, this is also _Guy's_ room as well. Setting that topic aside, Anh was taking an awfully long time so I decided to check up on her."

I rolled my eyes. With Anise's persuasion, probably.

"How kind of you Luke to suddenly give us a helping hand," he continued. "As a witness, I shall surely make sure you keep your end of the bargain."

"Bargain? What bargain?"

"For Anh to stop crying, you shall help out," Jade clarified. "Clearly you knew that was a bargain, did you not?"

It took a few minutes before Luke realized it. "I really hate you, old man."

"As long as you work, this old man doesn't mind what you say to him." Jade adjusted his glasses with a sly smile on his face. "Now, come along. Guy must have a few things here and there for you to stay busy for the rest of the day. If not, I have some heavy-lifting for a youngster like yourself."

Luke mumbled something under his breath the moment Jade's figure was no longer in sight. He soon marched out in a stiff manner, leaving me to myself. I slapped my cheeks with both hands inhaling as much air as I could. The tears weren't falling out so I take it as a somewhat good sign.

Now, I should wash my face before heading off to the kitchen.

* * *

"Anh, what happened to you?" Anise gasped the minute she saw my face when I first stepped into the kitchen. My face twisted into a look that hopefully told her that I didn't want to say anything. She didn't seem to pay any mind to it. "Did Master Luke say something to make you cry?"

I waved a hand at the subject. "It's nothing, really." When she gave me an unconvinced face, I gave her a weak smile. "No really. It was nothing."

"Good Lorelei, you have such a big heart," she sighed, returning to her cooking. Anise's small height was dwarfed by the height of the stove combined with the large metal pot she was cooking in. To adjust to the height difference, she stood on top of a wooden chair she had taken from a table set. The evident chair that was missing from the table within the room said it all. Wearing a frilly pink apron and stirring the stew with a metal ladle, Anise reminded me of a housewife had it not been for her Oracle Knight's uniform or Tokunaga clinging onto her shoulders like that. "Crying for others, that's not how a soldier should act. But," she turned around and waved a wooden spoon in the air, "it's more like you to care than not to."

"Is that supposed to be a comment?" I asked her, moving towards the table. A bag and a bunch of coins laid scattered on the table. A sheet of paper and pen laid beside the coins with writing on them from my counting them before Jade had interrupted sometime earlier.

"I'm just saying it's a quality of yours that I like." Anise shrugged before turning around again. I sat myself on an empty chair and returned to the counting. I had already finished counting our remaining Gald but I didn't get the time to total things up. After this, I had to, much to my dismay, count them once again. When it comes down to money, Anise was a force to be reckoned with.

Though I was supposed to be helping Anise with the cooking, the best to my ability in that particular field were the small-fry stuff like mixing, frying, or baking. Most of the time, Anise would ask me to watch the cooking as she went off to gather some food supplies to add more flavour to the current batch. Other times she would have me stir or cut. I got better and faster with the latter but it still needed some work. Most of the time, I was just sitting in the kitchen counting our Gald. Being one of the only active groups in the port town, our group was a target. Money-wise.

Which was why I was here counting Gald. Be it morning, afternoon or evening, whenever Anise started cooking, I would be there. Counting.

I was already used to the size and colour of Gald and my sorting and math skills were put into effect. Math. How I missed you. I missed the limits and derivatives of functions or even complicated integrals and- Oh wait. Wrong math. This was simply arithmetic and not calculus. Halfway through the counting, I noticed something was a little off.

"That's weird." I mumbled, setting my pen down after making the final calculations.

"What's weird?" Anise asked, not taking her eyes off of the stew.

"We're missing thirty Gald," I told her. I started counting once again just to make sure and I was right. We were down by thirty Gald.

"Did you count again?"

"Yeah, I did."

"And you're absolutely sure."

"One hundred percent."

"One hundred percent confident?"

"Definitely."

There was a long pause coming from Anise. An abnormally long pause.

…Wait for it.

The sound of wood clashing against the counter as if it was thrown down really hard was heard. Next thing I knew, Anise was already standing on an empty chair near the table. Her face was engrossed on counting the coins, she had totally forgotten about the food. I slipped out of my chair, leaving Anise to triple check for me, to turn off the stove. Since I couldn't lift the heavy pot full of stew, I shifted it off to the side before returning back to the table.

Anise's brow was furrowed. She glared at the Gald on the table as if she was waiting for the missing thirty Gald to reappear and apologize to her like a child would to its mother. Seeing as nothing happened by glaring, she heaved a heavy sigh and rubbed her forehead. "No way. How could we lose thirty Gald just like that?"

I shrugged. "Maybe someone wanted to buy something but was short by thirty Gald and 'borrowed' from us."

"Then it wouldn't make any sense for them to just take thirty Gald and leave a much larger amount left on the table." Anise said, raising a point.

"Maybe they thought we wouldn't notice the missing thirty Gald." I suggested.

Anise crossed her arms and huffed. "If I were that thief, I would have taken our entire cash and run off with it."

Yeah…if that were _you,_ Anise.

I shrugged once more. "Let's just overlook it, Anise. It's just thirty Gald. It doesn't make much of a difference."

"Oh, yes it does." Anise raised a finger. "What happens if we couldn't pay for one of us at an inn because we happen to be short on thirty Gald just like we were now? What would you do, Anh? Sleep outside like we always do?"

"In a hypothetical situation, probably," I answered. "We've camped out so many times, what's the harm with one more day?"

Anise's cheeks puffed out. "Okay, well what happens if we used up our last Life Bottle, was in dire need of one and we couldn't afford one just because we were lacking thirty Gald? Or, if we're out of food supplies and our only way to survive the day was to buy one Apple Gel but we couldn't buy something so cheap because we don't have _thirty Gald_."

I raised my hands, giving in to Anise. Even if I were to find a way to counter what she had, she would probably just come up with more irrational ideas revolving around the words: 'thirty Gald'. Better to give in than anything. "Okay, okay. I get it. I get it. So, what do we do?" It was obvious that Anise wanted to retrieve that small amount with whatever means necessary.

"We find him, and make him pay us back, double, no, ten thousand times the amount!"

Leave it to Anise to turn something this small into a very big problem. Anise's love for money was truly fearsome.

I need to change her attention to something else.

Gesturing to the stew, I simply said, "Anise, the food."

A couple things went through here. Anise's face nonchalantly stared at the pot then the expression on her face lit up; in a very evil way. "Food! Perfect. Food." She walked over to the pot muttering about food and I believe she had mentioned Jade somewhere along the lines.

If my eye could twitch automatically, it would be doing that right now. That result…wasn't my intention at all.

"Nooo, Anise! Don't mess with the food!" I cried, turning around.

* * *

I sighed, setting down a bucket full of murky water down.

"That's quite a sigh, Anh," Ion said as he, too, set down a bucket with murky water in it. "Did something happen?"

"Anise…" I muttered. Ion laughed lightly when I said that. I didn't even need to say more than what I had to. With the exception of Luke, everybody in the port knew I was putting most of my time pulling Anise away from the pot of stew while Guy carried it outside and Tear was serving it to the soldiers. Luckily Tokunaga was disarmed; otherwise I would have been tossed towards the other end of the port. But holy geez! She struggled like a madman; I couldn't even hold her back with my current strength and Jade was unwilling to spare a small amount of energy just to help me out. Guy's condition was the only reason why he couldn't help, Tear was serving so I couldn't bother her and Luke was nowhere in sight. Luckily Ion stepped in and, somewhat, calmed her down. I didn't even need to mention whose name was brought up to calm her down.

As of right now, Luke was keeping Anise busy. Though the former didn't know why he was doing something like that, but with Ion's suggestion and Jade's quick thinking they got him to do it anyway.

"Well, it's not every day that we lose some money to see Anise in such a state."

"Hopefully, this is the last time something like this happens." I shuddered at the thought of another incident sometime in the future. Ion simply smiled but I think the two of us knew that this wasn't going to be the last time we lose Gald. Seeing Ion lifting the bucket up and carrying it away, I spoke up. "Ion, it's okay. I can do it myself. You don't have to go that far just to empty it."

Ion smiled once more. "Please, don't give me special treatment just because I'm the Fon Master. I want to help out just as much as everyone. That means I have to pull more effort into doing things."

Yeah but…we wouldn't want the Fon Master to collapse on us just cause he worked too hard.

"Ion, wait up." I called to him, grabbing my bucket and running up to him. "I'll come with you. If the bucket gets too heavy, let me know; I'll carry it for you."

Ion nodded. "Likewise, Anh."

As tempting as his offer was, I was pretty sure that Anise would murder me if I let him carry my bucket.

We reached a sewer to dump our water in. Once dumped, the two of us washed our buckets and cloths before refilling it with clean water again. All of that, while saying nothing. I noticed that Ion was working a bit harder while helping people or doing simple tasks. I mean, for someone who was cooped up in a big cathedral doing nothing but paperwork, I'd expect him to know little to nothing about cleaning, washing, rinsing and other stuff like that.

But Ion totally blew that impression away when he watched me rinse my bucket and did something very similar. He learn things very quickly, I'll give him credit for that. It was probably because he was the Fon Master that he had to adapt to situations quickly.

"Say, Ion, when did you become the Fon Master?" I asked him, curiously.

Ion looked forward thoughtfully. "Let's see. My predecessor, Fon Master Evenos, passed away on Shadow Redecan ND2011 so I succeeded him that same month. This coming Shadow Redecan would be my seventh year as Fon Master."

Seventh… I paused to think for a bit. Abyss seems to love revolving around the number seven a lot. I mean…Seven different Fonons, seven fonstones, Luke was kidnapped seven years ago; Ion became Fon Master seven years ago on the seventh month if I recall the calendar correctly…Wait.

"So you became Fon Master before or after Luke's kidnapping?" I asked him.

Ion's face turned into a slight frown. "That I'm not too sure of that. You would have to ask Luke when he was kidnapped."

I titled my head to the side. True, I guess Ion wouldn't know something about that. Back to the topic of Ion… "And so, how old were you at the time you became Fon Master?"

"My birthday was before my succession so I was eight at the time."

"Eight years old," I breathed. That was a lot of work to burden an eight year old child with but considering that Auldrant's calendar was less than twice of Earth's so he would have been sixteen if Auldrant followed the 365 days a year instead of 765 days. I guess it would make sense, but that's a little harsh for someone who was still eight at the time. It was like chucking a poor eight year old kid high school homework. "So that means you didn't have a lot of fun."

"Not true," Ion said with a sweet smile. "Whenever I have time, I would read a book or finish some work assigned by my instructors."

"…And that's fun to you?"

"Of course!"

The words 'bookworm' and 'nerd' immediately popped up in my head when he happily said that reading a book and doing homework was 'fun'. "What about other things like games or some out-uh- indoor activities?" I nearly forgot that Ion wouldn't be able to find 'fun' outside of the cathedral with all the guards and such.

"No, but I take it that is what you do for fun?" he asked me innocently.

Oh, Ion, you poor thing. "…You know what, when we have a lot of free time, I'll rally up the guys and we'll play a fun game together."

"I'll look forward to it." Ion's face lit up so brightly, I got the feeling I shouldn't be disappointing him at all. That was kind of hard. Seeing Ion playing something like Red Rover or Hide-and-go-seek or even Tag would be...funny.

"Oh, Ion, Anh, fancy running into you two here," a female voice spoke up, diverting our attention towards the source. Luke appeared really irritated, half-dragging an Anise who was clinging onto his arm. Giddily, I might add.

"Can someone please get her off of me?" Luke snarled at the two of us. "It's a pain dragging her to every street and corner in this blasted place. It felt like I walked on every piece of flat land thanks to her."

Anise giggled. "Oh, Luke, we just went to a few of the best areas of the Kaitzur port~"

"Yeah, the broken ends of it."

"Did you enjoy you're date?" I teased Luke.

Though it was Anise who answered my question. "Oh yes, we had a lovely time. Master Luke said he was getting tired so I thought it was best to take him back and cook him a nice comforting meal."

Somehow I could see Luke saying it a lot of times before Anise even agreed to go back.

Anise tightened her grip on Luke's arm. "But isn't it romantic~? Walking around in this light fog?"

"Anise, I don't think that's fog we're seeing…" Ion said out loud as he looked around.

Now that the two of them had mentioned it, I looked around and saw that our surroundings had a faint greyish colour to it. Looking past Luke and Anise, the background had the fog or rather smoke-like effect going around. That definitely said that it wasn't a fog. Especially when the sky was blue with a few clouds.

Luke sniffed the air. "Did someone forget to turn off the stove or something? Something smells like it's burning."

I blinked twice at what Luke said. I casted a glance at Ion then to Anise who had released Luke's arm. Both of their eyes were wide and mine certainly widened. Then someone shouted to confirm it all.

"_FIRE!_"

Without a second thought, Ion and I dropped out buckets and ran right behind Luke and Anise who went ahead of us. As the smoke got thicker and darker, the shouting became louder and the air became hotter. Soon enough, a building was engulfed in flames came into view and many soldiers and engineers were either resting or sitting outside of the building, coughing. Tear was healing those that had some burns on them, Jade was dousing out the flames with just a flick of his hand but he was only able to keep the fire from spreading. Guy was nowhere in sight as that Lawrence guy was shouting orders.

"Those that are capable move those that aren't away from the smoke! Keep the civilians as far from here as possible. Others give that servant a hand and help carry out people! We also need to douse that flame before it spreads any further! _Move_!"

"Guy's still inside…" Luke murmured. Horror dripped from his tone, and even he was shaking in horror. He suddenly started to move towards the burning building before Tear stopped him.

"Stop, Luke!"

"Get out of my way, Tear. Guy's still inside that building!"

"You'll get burned if you go in there! Securing your safety comes first!"

"Then do something!" He turned to Anise. "Anise, can't you go in there and help him with doll thing of yours?"

Anise shook her head. "The door's too small for Tokunaga to just walk in. I have to break it down to get in, and that this rate the building could collapse if I do that."

Luke then turned to Jade who was still casting Splash. "Well, what about Jade? Couldn't he just pour water all over that building to stop it from burning any further?"

"With the fon slot still on him, the Colonel said that it was his best water spell." Tear told him calmly. Luke looked like he was gritting his teeth in anger when she told him that.

"Anise," Ion spoke up. "Let's help Jade. There's some buckets and water being passed around." Without saying another word, he ran off to join some of the people that were carrying from pails to buckets to large containers full of water and putting out the fire.

"Ah, Ion!" Anise ran after Ion while shouting that.

"Wait, I'm coming, too!" I shouted, running after them. Anise only paused for a small bit of time to turn Tokunaga big, afterwards she and Tokunaga sped past me. Using Tokunaga, she was able to use it to lift and carry a larger amount of water. Wow, that was pretty efficient.

The number of times Anise ran, gathered water and dumped it onto the burning building was four and counting while Ion and I managed to barely do half combined. I noticed that Ion was working a little bit slower than usual but it was understandable since he had ran pretty hard to get here.

One by one, soldiers were carrying other soldiers and engineers out of the building. Guy was occasionally appearing back and forth, passing every person he was carrying to someone with a free hand before running back in. After a few more running, gathering and dumping from our side, Guy came out with a soldier. This time, he carried the person to where the others were and he laid him down where Tear could heal him, he called over to Jade. "Jade, that's the last of them!"

Jade nodded. "Anise! Tear!"

The two of them turned to look at Jade then at the building and finally to each other. Jade had already begun casting with a yellow fonic glyph below him; Tear who had already caught on to what Jade was up to, started casting something of her own. Anise, on the other hand, dumped the container she was carrying and charged at the building. Pillars of rock appeared from the ground not too far from Anise, leaving a faint white fonic circle behind, the damage the rocks had left on the building made a dent that caused the building to lean forward. About a few seconds later, the white fonic circle changed to a yellowish-brown FOF circle and Anise stepped right into it.

"Let's finish this with a punch!" Anise shouted as Tokunaga's fist started glowing. "Stone Dragon Ascent!" Tokunaga jumped into the air, right at the building and…

Broke right through it…?

Was that how Stone Dragon Ascent was supposed to be? I thought it was supposed to go up and stay up before coming back down. Doesn't the word 'Ascent' makes people think it goes...oh, I don't know, up? One thing I knew for sure was that Anise ripped a hole in the burning building and it was falling. Down.

"Everybody, down!" I heard Lawrence shouted and everybody ducked for cover.

The building toppled down like unsteady pile of Lego stacked on top of each other. Dust, dirt, soot, and small debris shot up in the air the moment the building crashed down. I had already curled myself into a ball, face facing the ground and arms around my head, by the time that happened and remained curled. The sound of debris and other stuff fell and hit my back lightly, and my ears were ringing from the sound of the building crashing. Once everything settled, I managed to hear coughing and muttering.

"Is everybody okay?" a voice spoke up. The person received a good number of responses, each varying from loud to soft.

I looked up from my curled position and the first thing I did was rubbed my face with my hands. It wasn't a smart decision since my hands were covered with small particles and stuff, and that just made my face feel really irritating. So instead I removed whatever was on my hand by dusting them off of my vest. And then I tried to clean my face. From what I saw, many were giving each other encouraging comments and Tear resumed healing - healing Guy to be more exact while Luke was angrily dusting off his jacket. Jade had removed his glasses and absentmindedly cleaned his glasses and Ion was sitting talking to some of the people near him.

As for Anise…

"Now _that's_ what I call teamwork!" she shouted happily. Anise stood exactly where the FOF circle was and she was standing there proudly with her hands on her hips and head up high. I noticed that Tokunaga was nowhere in sight. Many soldiers just gapped at her while others whispered. I caught bits and pieces of some comments.

"Holy…"

"Did you see that? It just ripped right through the building."

"Amazing."

"And how old is that girl?"

I smiled. That's Anise for you.

* * *

The cause of the fire remained unknown, though Lawrence and Jade dismissed it as an accident. After cleaning ourselves up and taking the soldiers to a different area, we all had dinner silently. Although it was broken when Mieu suddenly popped out of nowhere and pissed Luke off again. Now that I thought about it, I hadn't seen the cheagle all day. Mieu wouldn't have… Nah. He wouldn't.

Tired, I dragged myself to bed, quickly changed to my pj and practically drifted off to sleep the minute my head hit the pillow.

I woke up to loud banging at the door. Slowly opening an eye at the door, I peeked at the other two beds in the room. They were both empty so that meant that Anise and Tear were up and left without making a sound so that I slept without being bugged by them. The banging continued and I chose to ignore it. I lifted my pillow from underneath my head and then switched places with the pillow. The pillow muffled a bit of the banging but it persisted.

I was just going to pretend like I wasn't here in the first place so whoever was doing that can give up halfway.

Eventually the banging subsided. How long, I didn't know. Nor did I care. I just wanted my sleep.

"How long are you planning to stay there?" an irritated voice asked me.

I groaned tiredly. With the pillow still being held by my hands at the back of my head, I lifted my head, stared at what looked like Luke and then laid my head back down on the bed. "Wake me up when its lunchtime."

"You have to get up now." He said sternly.

"No, don't wanna." I mumbled. My voice sounded quite muffled with my head being sandwiched between the mattress and the pillow.

I faintly heard Luke tapped his foot against the floor impatiently. "That's it! Get up! You're making everyone wait!"

I lifted my head with the pillow once more. "How can I make everyone wait? Did something happened that we decided to suddenly call a group meeting?"

Luke gave me his 'duh' face. "Yeah, Master Van's back."

I sucked my breath when I heard that. That…wasn't a good thing.

That meant not too long after, we were packing our bags and off to Choral Castle.

* * *

**So…about the missing 30 Gald. It`s an inside joke between me and a friend. XD But if you really want to know… Go here:**

**http : / van-anh. deviantart. com /#/ d3hpfg8 (No spaces of course. XD) It`s the second last comment made by Loy142. And then go here:**

**http : / www. fanfiction. net /s/ 4772320 /48/ New_Reality**

**And if you go to the link she posted is the same one I just posted above. And so, that`s how I lost the bet. Lovely ain't it. XD**

**Anyway, no guarantees when is the next chapter coming up. I mean…It took me this long to get this one. It might take a shorter time or longer. But here's a sneak preview just to show you guys that I'm not dead!**

"_**Hey, Guy. You're afraid of women, right?"**_

"…_**Yeah?"**_


	17. Chapter 16: Gynophobia

**I finished Art class for the Spring Semester like…a month ago. Been spending too much time re-watching stuff. First Saiunkoku, then Hakushaku, followed by Clannad, Nurarihyon and Code Geass and Abyss. Funny how each of them (aside from Abyss, obviously) has a voice actor from the Tales series. Now that I think about it…one of them is actually reoccurring. I'll give you a hint: He voiced a popular character from Tales of Destiny. *coughLeoncough* **

**Now before all of you starting feeling sorry for Guy because of what's the title says; trust me, it's not that bad…I think. Rather I hope it isn't.**

**Disclaimer: Do not own. Period.**

* * *

**Chapter 16: Gynophobia**

I dragged my feet across the floor as Luke took the lead, taking me to where everybody else was waiting. While walking, I wiped my eyes, mainly the tears that had fallen from hastily putting my contacts in as well as the sleep that still clung in the corners of my eye.

God, I wanted coffee. And I hated coffee because of their bitter taste but I sure as hell feel like having one now. Or tea. Tea would be a hell loads better than coffee, actually. It was much sweeter and contains more caffeine! Mmmm…Tea.

Pushing my thoughts aside, we made it to the door that was closed. By the time Luke grabbed the door knob, I had already straightened myself up and stifled an incoming yawn with my sleeve. The door opened and Luke happily waltz into the room.

"Master Van, I brought her here."

"Good work, Luke. Take a seat." The gruff voice complimented him kindly. Luke nodded and grabbed a seat as he was told. Van then turned to me and gave me a kind smile. "You as well, Anh."

"Morning, sleepyhead~" Anise's voice chirped happily when I stepped into the room.

"Why am I up so early again?" I asked tiredly as I took a seat in the only empty chair that was beside Jade. Everybody was already present in the room, so I was, obviously, the last person to arrive. Tear had kept her distance from Van; standing on the opposite end of the room and far away from her brother. Guy sat next to Luke who was in between his teacher and best bud. Anise took her rightful seat on Ion's right and my left and Ion left his staff resting near him at the end of the table. Mieu was also present in the room; sitting in front of Ion. His paws clung onto the Sorcerer's Ring as he examined the room with bright, cheerful eyes. Celena, who remained silent as ever, sat at Ion's left.

"Actually, it would be noon in a few minutes so it wouldn't be considered early at all," Jade remarked. "I might also add that sleeping in isn't very healthy."

"Now, now, Jade," Guy spoke up. "You shouldn't pull her leg. She just got up and most people are quite grouchy after they wake up. Given in the mood she's in, she could shoot you if you teased her any further."

"I am confident that she will miss if she does so."

"…Even at point-blank range?"

"Of course."

That was some confidence he had there. Guy gave Jade a worried smile but he didn't say anything further. At the same time, I chose to dismiss Jade's morning tease because I was far too lazy (and tired) to pull out my gun and shoot him. Also, there were more important matters at hand. It was something I should be paying more attention to than shooting the guy sitting next to me. Without wasting any more time, both parties began exchanging information about what happened in the past few days. Starting with us first, Ion took the liberty of explaining; stating with the casualty rates and such and ending it with the recent fire in which the culprit wasn't revealed. Ion included that the fire may have been an accident.

Now it was Van's turn.

"The two of us were right on Arietta's trail though she had made several turns on the way. En route to Choral Castle, we were ambushed by a good number of her monsters," Van said with a stone-like yet professional expression. "We managed to fend them off but Arietta was no longer in sight and we were unable to retrieve the engineer in the process. Knowing that she would remain at Choral Castle until her demands were met, we decided that it was best if we returned here and report to you."

"Thank you for your hard work, you two," Ion said, nodding his head in their direction. "I'm sure it was tough, even for the both of you."

"There's no need to thank us, Fon Master," Van lightly held up a hand at Ion. "For one thing, we returned empty-handed. That, itself, doesn't give you a reason to praise us."

Ion smiled, undaunted. "However, you both came back safely. That, on its own, deserves praise."

Van gave a long pause before inclining his head towards Ion. Celena had also followed suit as Van said, "You are too generous."

"So, why is Celena wearing that thingy around her arm?" Luke asked suddenly, gesturing to her. "Don't you know healing artes to heal something like that, Master Van?"

All eyes were directed to Celena who paid no mind to the stares. Now that Luke had mentioned it, she did have an arm sling.

"As you can see, Celena broke a bone during the fight," Van told Luke. "Healing artes do indeed heal but only externally. If someone were to be healed before the bone could mend itself; it could lead to a permanent disability. It's better to allow the body to heal on its natural course before applying such techniques."

That explained a lot of things. I tilted my head to the side thoughtfully.

"So, why did Tear heal Anh during that time when that Asch guy knocked her over?" Luke turned towards me, casting me a curious look.

This time, Anise was the one who spoke up. "Anh and I were already there at Kaitzur for quite a while, so she had a lot of time to rest. By the time Tear healed her, all Anh had was a swollen, and probably sore, leg." I made a face at Anise as she turned to Celena missing my expression all together. "But are you sure you're fine, Lieutenant? I mean, being mauled by one of Arietta's monsters must have snapped more than just the bone."

"It's nothing that couldn't be healed," Celena said simply.

"There must have been a lot of monsters under Arietta's control," Tear mused. "It is rather hard to see someone like the Lieutenant injured like the way she is."

"Really?" Luke sounded surprised. "Anh's a Lieutenant Colonel and she gets hurt far more times than Celena. It's not hard to see _her_ getting injured."

"Thank you for bringing that small info up…" I muttered underneath my breath.

Tear shot him a glare. "The Lieutenant is only human. She isn't perfect. Likewise to Anh."

"Rank doesn't determine the strength of a person at all," Celena pointed out. "You may not notice it but there are people entering the military through financial influences."

Guy nodded casually. "But there are also people in the military with skill. Though, this has been bugging me for a while but why are you a Lieutenant and not a rank much higher than that. As the head of the Fon Master Guardians, it makes much more sense to be at least a major or a general."

I glanced up at Jade, who wasn't diverting the smallest bit of his attention to Celena but rather casting a thoughtful glance at Van and then to Ion. I lowered my gaze to the table; he looked like he had pieced together a section of a paper that had important information on them but refuse to say the details until someone figured it out later on. That was so like him.

Anise placed a finger underneath her jaw as her eyes flew up at the ceiling. "If I remember correctly, the Lieutenant was assigned as head only two years ago. Before she became head, she wasn't an active member of the Oracle Knights up until her promotion so..."

Luke huffed, crossing his arms. "It doesn't matter what rank she is, she's good if she's Master Van's right hand person."

"Left hand." Celena corrected and Luke casted her a confused look. "I'm Van's left hand man. Legretta's his right hand."

Luke wasn't the only person confused. I was, too. Luke shifted in his chair. "What's the difference?"

"Luke, you wield your weapon with your left hand," Van said. Luke nodded slowly, following along with Van. "Now try wielding your sword with your right hand; a hand you aren't used to."

Luke scratched his head in confusion when Van let him try to figure out the rest himself. "I still don't quite get it. Wielding my sword with my right hand just makes me uneasy; it doesn't feel comfortable. What does that have to do with what we're talking about?"

"That's exactly where Van's getting at, Luke," Guy folded his arms. "Most people tend to focus on wielding weapons with their dominant hand and ignore their less dominant hand. Being able to wield a weapon with both hands gives the user an advantage. In Celena's case, being the reserved hand, she tends not to act unless she has to."

When Luke leaned back, completely amazed or probably in awe or maybe still confused, Jade decided it was time to change the subject. He adjusted his glasses up. "Well now, now that we have all those questions out of the way, Van, about the ship. I'm assuming at this point, since you have returned, we are to take the training ship."

Van nodded. "Yes, we shall continue on as planned. Luke and Ion will board the training ship that should arrive soon."

"But what about the engineer that was captured?" Ion asked. Worry was written all over his face. "We couldn't leave him be. Besides, Arietta had demanded that both Luke and I need to come to Choral Castle in order for her to release the engineer. Otherwise he would be killed."

"As of right now, preventing war is far more important than heeding Arietta's demands," Van said. "That being said, we cannot leave the engineer's situation as it is. I'll go to Choral Castle to retrieve him alone. Celena will stay here and accompany you to Baticul should I not return in time."

Luke stood up from his seat. "But that means you'll confront Arietta by yourself, Master Van!"

"Luke, sit down," Van said as he gestured Luke to sit. "Even by myself, I am capable of handling Arietta. She is, after all, one of my God-Generals. This isn't the first time I had to go against my own subordinates." After that, he stood up. "With that, our discussion ends here. I'll leave for Choral Castle immediately. Luke," he gave a steady gaze towards the redhead, "take Fon Master Ion and return to the border."

Luke lowered his head in disappointment. "Y-yes, sir."

* * *

The meeting ended after Van had left the room. Everybody eventually dismissed themselves out of the room to start the day and I ended up being the last person leaving that room. I started things off by washing my face. Being tired and all, that would be the best course. I strolled down the hallway towards the washrooms; passing by the kitchen on the way. Something caught the corner of my eye when I passed the doorway.

I stopped. Then backtracked, looking back in the kitchen.

"Uh..." I started. Tear and Anise looked up from what they were doing to see me at the door.

Anise giggled. "You need something, Anh?"

For some reason, my mind was blank when I was asked that question. I scratched my head. "Uh, no. Never mind. It's nothing."

Tear frowned at me. "You're acting a bit odd, Anh."

"I blame the mornings." I said simply, flapping a hand in front of my face. I then noticed that Tear was cooking while Anise was doing the counting. I blinked twice. Normally that would be Anise and I doing the cooking and counting respectively. "Though…it looks like I'm not needed in here."

"Well, you weren't waking up today so I asked for Tear's help instead." She answered, turning a gaze towards the Gald on the table. "Tear wanted to cook so we switched duties."

"You have been cooking for days, Anise," Tear sighed, returning her attention to her cooking. She has seemed to ignore Anise's last comment. "I'm only giving you a break. Besides, my cooking skills would become rusty if you did all of the cooking."

"So…You're both fine without me, right?" I asked. "If you don't need me here, I'll go help Ion then."

"Yep!" Anise chirped. "You can go on ahead. We'll come as soon as we're done."

I scratched my head, completely unsure if I should leave Tear with Anise. But…they should be fine together, right? "If you say so, Anise."

I turned around and saw white before I bumped into something. It wasn't the wall otherwise I would have fallen on to the ground. What I ran into felt soft.

…And warm. Like a person warm.

"Oh, I beg your pardon," a gentle male voice spoke up. "I must not have seen you there. Are you okay?"

I took a couple steps back to see that a male around Guy's height stood at the doorway with two handfuls of bags filled with a variety of food that ranged from fruits to vegetables to flour to meat and poultry. My God, how did he manage to carry all of that…? The guy as he stepped to the side and towards the table. Anise walked over to him and helped him set the items down. I just shrugged, "Eh, I'm fine. It's not like-AH!"

My sudden shout surprised everyone in the room, but I was more surprised than all of them combined. Standing right in front of me was a familiar chef's clothing and face minus the hat. The only difference was the hair colour. This one was blue. I jabbed a finger in his direction. "You dyed your hair!"

The guy looked confused. Really confused. "I'm sorry, but this would be the first time we have met."

Anise placed both of her hands on her hips, her upper body slightly tilted at one angle. "Exactly what are you talking about, Anh?"

"It's him…!" I waved my finger up and down. "It's the Wonder Chef! He just dyed his hair blue and is hat-less!"

Anise's eyes widened as she stared at him then at me and back at him. She then burst out laughing, a hand clutching her stomach while the other waved madly up and down. "Yeah, right. The Wonder Chef is nothing more than a fairytale!"

"Honestly, Anh, how much times do we have to go through this…?" Tear sighed, pressing a hand on her forehead.

"But it is him this time!" I whined. Really, how many times _did _we have to go through that point? He existed. I saw him with my own eyes. Heck, I _touched_ the guy!

Tear casted me an unamused look. "For the last time, Anh, the Wonder Chef-"

"He does exist." The person cut in. Tear and Anise turned to him with surprised looks. He didn't seem to mind their shocked expressions as he continued. "One would achieve the title of Wonder Chef when they have fully mastered everything. In addition to that, our family is said to descend from the Wonder Chef. To be the Wonder Chef, it is a goal that everyone in our family strives for."

I stared at him, completely shocked like Anise and Tear. If he was a descendent of the Wonder Chef then I see the similarities…in more ways than one.

Anise was the first one to sober up. "Wait…so you're saying that the Wonder Chef actually exists? As in, wandering around the world like the stories said he would?"

"Probably," he answered. He then came to a realization. "Oh, that's right, I forgot my manners. Thank you so much for watching over the meals for the soldiers. As per our agreement, I'll teach you the recipe you wanted to learn." He gave each of us a bow even though I was pretty sure that he only knew Anise.

Anise clasped her hands together excitedly. "No, thank _you_ so much for teaching me the recipe."

I scooted myself closer to Tear. "Who's he?" I whispered to her when Anise and the Wonder Chef look-alike stood by a table with a paper and was giving her instructions to whatever recipe he was talking about. I did manage to catch a lot of seafood ingredients so…a seafood dish?

"From one of the conversations I had with one of the soldiers, I would assume he's the head chef to the Kaitzur Port kitchen." She answered, whispering back to me. "I believe his name is Don."

"And what's the recipe he's talking about?"

"Honestly, I don't know. Anise had never mentioned that he left to gather ingredients," Tear looked at Anise who was jotting everything he said down onto the paper. "For all we know, it's a secret between the two. She'll cook it eventually so we'll find out sooner or later."

I sighed. "That's true. She'll definitely do that. And it better be tasty."

Half of a smile crept slowly on Tear's face. "This is Anise we're talking about."

"It is," I agreed. I felt a yawn come up so I turned away from Tear just to cover my mouth. "I think I'll head off now. Don't want to distract you from your cooking or whatever else you guys were planning to do."

"Anh, try to wake up earlier," Tear said firmly. "You'll tend not to yawn as much."

I think it would have an opposite effect. Instead of saying that, I simply waved a hand at her. "Yes, ma."

I left the kitchen, stifling another yawn that was coming. My initial idea going to the washroom to give myself a wakeup call, but after that Don event, my interest to wash my face kinda died. I head outside to go to help Ion with the soldiers. Halfway through, I caught sight of Luke with Guy, both I was pretty sure was on break, having a cheerful, light conversation with one another. Not wanting to break whatever they were talking about, I only smiled in their direction and continued on my way.

And then…I saw three guys standing off to the side. Hey, one of them looked familiar.

I walked up to Ion (when I recognized him) with two males, one with blond hair and the other with dark hair, both wearing engineer uniforms and both on their knees in front of Ion. Their heads were lowered, begging for Ion to save their chief. Ion looked at the two of them, solemnly.

"Please, raise your heads," he said to them in a gentle tone. His hand was gesturing them to stand up. "Even if you didn't ask me, I was planning to go and save him. So rest assured I will carry out your wishes."

They raised their head excitedly and then lowered their heads once more to thank Ion. Once the two of them got up and left quickly by the time I approached him, I sighed watching them run off with high hopes. "You completely sure about this? I mean, Van's on his way as we speak."

Ion smiled in my direction, not shocked that I was there in the first place. "It was something I couldn't ignore. Even if Van did show up at Choral Castle, Arietta's demands wouldn't be met and she would kill the engineer without hesitation."

"The training ship's coming soon, you know."

"I'd rather regret doing something than regret not doing anything," Ion said firmly.

I couldn't help but smile at him. "Gotcha. Then we need the man power to get the guy. I'm sure Jade wouldn't mind coming along so I'll go to him first. After, I'll tell Anise and Tear. They would be more than willing to help. You can grab the other two; I saw them somewhere back there." I flicked a thumb over my shoulder when I spoke of Luke and Guy.

Ion beamed. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind."

Guy wouldn't but Luke does. Unlike the game, I highly doubt that Luke was going to be that readily to agree to do something like this. "Let's hope for that. Oh, and aren't you going to tell Celena? She's one of your bodyguards and all." Would she tag along with us or would she try to force Ion to stay? I wondered.

"I'll explain it to her myself," Ion told me. "As reluctant as she would be, I'm sure she will come to an understanding why I want to do this. In any case, we should get moving. Everyone should meet at the entrance of the port. I'll see you in a bit, Anh." Ion gave me a smile before walking past me to go talk to Guy and Luke.

I watched him go off before deciding who I should contact first. Tear and Anise were still in the kitchen so they shouldn't be wandering around.

So Jade first, I guess.

* * *

I glared angrily at the man that stood before me. He stood there, nonchalantly, with his hands in his pockets. The sun gleamed overhead, and his glasses gleamed evilly. I spent what felt like an hour or more looking for this bastard. Then I gave up halfway and decided I should get Anise and Tear ready before giving him another try; spending more time searching than talking.

I managed to find him; at the port itself.

"You…" I managed to say. Jade adjusted his glasses as I took a deep breath. "Do you have any idea how long it took me to find you…?"

"I figured that if anybody were to find me easily, it would be my lieutenant colonel," he answered.

"You were wandering around!" I accused him.

"No, I was probably in one spot as you spent the 'long time' searching for me." An evil smile across his face. "Didn't you know? The best place to hide is the most obvious one."

"Aha! You _were_ hiding!"

"Now who said I was hiding," he shrugged casually. "I was merely stating that line since it applies to finding others as well."

"You were still implying that you were hiding from me!"

"Now, for what reason should I be doing that?"

…I thought about it. _Reeeally _hard. Then I gave him a deadpan stare. "To irritate me."

Amusement was written all over his face. Instead of making a comeback to what I said, Jade adjusted his glasses. "Joking aside, I assume we are to leave for Choral Castle?"

I sighed when he got to the point. "Yeah, we're planning to head there. Ion said to get ready and meet him at the entra-WHY DO YOU KNOW THIS?"

"I didn't." He answered. "The training ship hasn't arrived so my only guess would be the departure towards Choral Castle. To add more to this, it has to be this topic, otherwise you would have never confronted me. By your reaction, I was right." He lifted a finger in my direction. "Oh, and it is _how_ do I know this and not _why_."

I stuck a tongue in his direction when he corrected my grammar. "Shut up, I'm bad at English."

"You would be better if you try harder." He smiled then tucked his hands into his pockets. "I would also advise you not to use those bullets you found in the Tartarus just yet."

Before I was able to question him about that, pink arms wrapped around my neck and, whoever it was behind me, pulled me backwards with their weight; choking me in the process. "Hargh!"

"Honestly, the both of you are holding everyone up!" said Anise, who, thankfully, released her arms around my neck. "While you both were chatting casually, Ion was waiting at the entrance with everybody else worried about you two."

"So sorry, Anise," Jade replied. He started making his way towards the exit with Anise and I right behind him. "I assume everything is ready by now?"

Anise skipped in the air with one hand up. "Of course! We're all waiting just for the two of you. Oh, and you don't have to worry about a thing, Anh. Tear and I got your stuff." She turned her attention to me and smiled.

"That's one thing I wouldn't have to worry about…" I mumbled and then sighed.

"Oh, cheer up, you!" She slapped her hand on my back. "Instead of staying here, cooped up doing the same duties over and over again, we're off doing a rescue mission! Isn't that exciting?"

"It's the exciting part I'm more worried about…"

* * *

Well…this was certainly _exciting_.

Just as we left Kaitzur port, Celena was right on our tail. Silently. Like a staking shadow. As in, none of us would have noticed if Jade wasn't casting the occasional hints over his shoulders. Ah, well. She didn't make a fuss about the trip to Choral Castle, she just…accepted it. And so we just went along with it, too.

Sort of.

"Why is she coming along?" Luke asked out loud. Celena only tilted her head back ever so slightly so that her silver hair covered her face before facing the front again.

"What about you?" she asked back. "Why are you here? Van told you to remain at the port until the training ship arrives. Why did you decide to come along, knowing it would be against Van's orders?"

Luke crossed his arms. "That's my line!"

"Now, now, you two," Ion spoke up. He was looking back and forth between the two. "Celena's only coming along because of me."

"And as a Fon Master Guardian, I also need to guarantee his safety." Celena added. "Van may be my superior but so is the Fon Master. When it comes down to importance, I take the Fon Master's orders above his." She turned her head so that their eyes could meet. "Does that satisfy your curiosity?"

The muscle that ticked on Luke's frown said everything. He huffed, "Whatever."

"In any case," Ion said, "we should arrive in Choral Castle in a week and a half if we hurry."

"Does that mean we'll run into Master Van at some point?" Luke asked excitedly.

"I'd rather not run into Van if you ask me." Jade sighed with a shrug. "After all, he _did_ tell us to _not_ go to Choral Castle, which is what we are doing now. Running into him means that rescuing the engineer would be the least of our concerns."

"True," Tear nodded. "Instead of aiding our search for the chief, he would try to secure Luke and Ion's safety back to Kaitzur port. It would be a waste of time on both of our sides. We should make avoiding my brother a top priority on our way to and while in Choral Castle."

Luke almost looked like he was going to pout. His hands lay at the back of his neck as he said, "That's boring."

Guy laughed lightly and patted Luke's back. "If you were trying to go fight alongside with Van, you're going to have to give up on that. There'll be other chances. If travelling with Van was your motive then you could have stayed back at Kaizur port-"

"But that would mean that I would be left behind by everybody!" Luke protested. He jerked away from Guy, completely upset.

Was that his real reason on coming with us…?

"Besides," he continued, "it's not the only reason why I wanted to go. I want to see if I remember anything at Choral Castle. Guy said that it was the place where I was found when I was kidnapped."

Ah.

"I did," Guy responded, "but that didn't mean you had to come with us." He then shrugged. "That's okay. It was your choice anyway. No one's forcing you to come."

It didn't seem like Luke was going to make a fuss out of it any further since he never said anything afterward. It wasn't until I focused on Guy that I noticed that Mieu was clinging onto his shoulder. The little cheagle was looking left and right excitedly as if looking over Guy's shoulder gave him a height advantage. Though it was quite normal for Mieu to jump from person to person but I was sure that no one told Guy about the cheagle's gender.

Then something came to mind.

I suppressed an incoming smirk and failed miserably when the idea crossed my mind. When I collected myself together, I tried to look as normal as I could. And failing horribly still. "Hey, Guy."

The blond turned his attention towards me, curious. He let himself fall back towards me but distanced himself. "Yeah?"

"You're afraid of women, right?"

Luke snorted. "As if that wasn't given."

A muscle ticked at the edge of Guy's mouth before he gave me a very nervous smile. "…Yeah. What about it?"

I waved a hand at Luke, dismissing his earlier comment. "Are you just afraid of the opposite sex or does it extend to female monsters as well?"

"Uh…"

Jade pushed his glasses up in interest. "An interesting point, Anh. What brings up the idea?"

"Mieu." I answered. The cheagle's ears flew up when I mentioned his name. "I'm sure no one mentioned about Mieu's gender and yet Guy seemed comfortable about that unknown fact. Also, I'm pretty sure gynophobia includes fear of females. That's why I wonder if his fear also includes monsters in that jumble."

Guy looked up, thoughtfully. A hand underneath his chin as he pondered about it. "I haven't thought about it, honestly."

I grinned. "So, can we try it if we have the chance?"

He laughed, then sobered. "I'd rather not."

"Why not, Guy?" Jade asked, amusement lacing his tone. "In battle, it is difficult to immediately determine the gender of the monster you are facing but I find it intriguing to see how you would or might react to one should you encounter one."

Guy grinned nervously. "Exactly whose side are you on?"

"Nobody's of course," he answered. "Knowing how far your fear extends gives us the advantage, does it not?"

"But we won't know how female monsters would affect him until we enter a battle," Tear spoke up, clearly stating that she, and probably everybody else, heard this conversation. Anise was obviously just as curious as I was but she hadn't said anything, Ion was occasionally glancing back at us and Celena paid no mind though it was evident that she was listening as well.

I grinned, now that everyone's in on this topic; time to move on to question number two! "Okay, then what about female looking guys?" Then I quickly added, "Like that time when you shook Ion's hand."

"Anh, everybody knows that Fon Master Ion is male." Guy pointed out. He didn't appear too fazed by that part.

"Tell that to the many guys out there that mistook him for a female." I frowned, crossing my arms. "So, I guess it's safe to say that if you knew they were male then you wouldn't mind them even if they look female. All right, what about cross-dressers or TVs?"

"Anh!" Tear scolded me the moment the last word slipped out of my mouth. "Be considerate about these kind topics in front of Fon Master Ion!"

"It's not a problem, Tear," Ion spoke up in my defence. Anise beside him giggled.

"Don't worry, Tear, it's not like no one here knows what they are."

"What's a TV?" Luke asked, confused.

Dead silence. Everyone turned to Luke with looks I wasn't able to name since I more focused giving him my pity look. Well, that shouldn't be surprising. I mean, if I used the actual word, would he still get what that meant? I wouldn't think so.

Luke glared at everyone in turn. "What? I know what a cross-dresser is! What's a TV then?"

Anise gaped in disbelief. "Are you serious, Master Luke? You honestly don't know?"

"Only someone like him can achieve this level of ignorance." Jade commented lightly. A smile spread across his face. Completely amused. About Luke's lack of knowledge or something else, I had no idea.

"Stop making fun of m-"

"Luke, a TV is-" Guy pulled Luke close to him so that he whispered the rest of it in his ear. A few seconds only passed and we all watched Luke's eyes slowly widened in horror before he jerked himself away from Guy.

"There are people like that out there?" he hissed.

"Of course there is," I said with a shrug. "It's not surprising that people find themselves disgusted so that they decided to-"

One hand covered Luke's ear while the other hand held up at me. "Stop! I don't want to know why they did it!"

I shrugged, turning my attention to what was ahead of me. "Suit yourself."

"How did they do it?" came his question.

I nearly tripped myself when he asked that. Heck, tripping was an understatement. I nearly _fell_. As innocent as that question was, he should have figured it out already…! I turned to him. "Seriously?"

Tear sighed. "You can figure it out yourself, Luke. It's the same method as cross dressers." Unlike me, she wanted to get straight to the point. Cutting out some minor details.

Luke's face twisted into something else. It was then his turn to say, "Seriously?"

I shrugged. "It's not like they were going to be extreme and use Fon Machines to alter themselves and whatnot."

Luke's face twisted into something worse than distraught. "People use _Fon Machines_ to do _that_?" He turned to Guy as if he was looking for a confirmation from the Fon Tech mania.

Guy held up his hands in defeat. "Don't look at me for an answer to that."

I waved a hand at Guy, catching his attention. "Back to my initial topic. So? What happens in that kind of situation?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Guy responded. "I haven't encountered one even once in my life."

"Really?" I recoiled a bit. Surely someone would have pulled a prank at him at least once. "The TVs I would understand but not the cross-dressers? No guy randomly going up to you, dressed like a woman saying 'I'm a girl' in a failed high voice and all that?"

That earned me a laugh from Guy. "Unfortunately, no. No man has ever done that."

I frowned, my shoulders slumped. "Then how about now? How about dressing Jade up as a female and see your reaction?"

Jade pushed his glasses up so that the light shined off of them. "The idea on its own is absolutely revolting."

Guy just waved a hand at me to decline. "No comment, Anh."

I pouted. "Seriously? All we know about your gynophobia is that you're afraid of anything tha-" I cut myself short, casting a side glance to Ion. Maybe saying boobs and mentioning _that_ was a bit overdoing it. "-that's of the opposite sex."

A hint of mischief lit in Celena's eyes. "How about an experiment, shall we?" She slowed herself down so that she was close to Guy, but not that close. Until she wrapped her free arm around him, eliminating any space between them. Guy tensed almost immediately and his mouth drew a thin line as if he was fighting something back. He tried to move away from her but her death-like vice grip stayed fast. "Say I was initially male and decided to change my identity for unknown reasons. Would you still stand near the current me?"

"I would decline politely!" Guy shouted, finding an opening in the grip and distanced himself greatly. From where he was now, he looked like his feet was glued to the ground, frozen on the spot while his body tried to stop trembling.

"Guy's fear is tremendous," Anise commented with a sigh.

"Celena," Ion said. His voice stern. "Teasing Guy won't help him at all."

"It was merely a test, Fon Master." Celena stated simply. "Words alone won't help him his condition. I hope you all know that."

"How about we rest for a bit?" Tear suggested, changing the topic at hand. "Guy looks like he needs to calm down and straighten himself. Is that all right, Fon Master?"

Ion nodded. "Certainly. A break sounds perfect."

"We'll leave Guy's gynophobia at that," Jade agreed. "We wouldn't want to handicap him any further now wouldn't we, Anh?"

"You should have stopped her earlier." Anise commented with an evil, low chuckle followed by a grin.

* * *

After our quick break and Guy's somewhat recovery, we all continued onwards towards Choral Castle. Not mentioning about Guy's phobia nor talking all together. Sunset eventually hit the horizon and we were forced to make camp. Luckily for us, a river was only a few steps away from us. Both Guy and Celena suggested that we stay far away from any bodies of water but hadn't given us a reason.

As of right now, Luke and Guy were off gathering water as well as creating wards against monsters using a Holy Bottle. Anise and I started with dinner. Ion eventually convinced us to help him but we gave him the small duties. He was happy to help out, nonetheless. Celena was off to the side receiving treatment from Tear. It seemed that it was okay to apply healing artes to her broken arm at this point. As for that last person…I had no idea where he was.

Heck, I highly doubt everybody knew of his current location. He just gets up and goes and then magically appears out of nowhere when we'd least expect it.

Not that anyone minds.

…Okay, so maybe I did mind. No Jade equals doomed Anh.

A pair of footsteps approached the campsite and Guy and Luke came into view. Guy waved a hand in our direction before saying, "Just as we suspected, the water level had risen. It's not too high but we should stay clear of the river area nonetheless."

"Why should we stay away from it?" Luke asked, his brows rose.

"Monsters from Fubras River tend to get carried off by the powerful current in river," Guy answered, waving the hand with a pail of water. "And since most river areas are connected to Fubras River, it's only a matter of time before we run into them."

Luke huffed, crossing his arms. "They aren't that strong. We can take them on easily."

Guy shook his head. "Not if they come in ridiculously large groups."

"Oh."

"By the way, where's Jade?" Guy asked, looking around and noticing that the Malkuth soldier was missing.

"I heard the Colonel went off to confirm something," Tear answered. "Anh, do you know what he's up to?"

"He tells me nothing so I'm in the dark just like you guys." I admitted.

"He'll be back before dinner. Hey, did anyone feel that?" Anise asked. Her head swung to the left and then to the right, on high alert. She wasn't the only one. One by one we prepared ourselves for battle the minute each individual felt for the small shaking. I backed backwards and towards my bag, reaching for my rifle. The rumbling got stronger and it felt like something was drawing close. Really, really close.

The minute my hand touched my rifle, the rumbling stopped. The earth stilled. Almost as if nothing had happened.

Anise sighed, wiping a brow across her forehead. "Oh, it was just a false alarm."

Celena looked up and then shouted, "Watch out!"

Something huge slammed itself in the middle of the camp the minute that last word left Celena's mouth. It doused the fire, a lot of dirt flew up in the air and we all were sent flying. I coughed madly, waving the flying dirt away from my face. A roar erupted from the middle of the camp followed by a variety of other sounds. I saw red eyes glowed from the falling dirt and a huge dino monster appeared. Black as the moonless sky, the only thing that made the thing noticeable in the dark was the bright orange strips running from the sides to the back. Grey horns grew from its head and rested at the sides of its mouth that was dripping with nasty green colored saliva.

"Jesus fucking Christ, it's huge!" I swore loudly, pushing myself back and away from the beast. It was like at least two times our tallest guy here!

"That's one of Arietta's monsters!" I heard someone shout.

"And it looks like more are joining the party." Someone else noted.

"What the hell?" Luke swore somewhere to my right. "I thought we were in the Holy Bottle's effect. Why are monsters attacking? Did we miss a spot?"

"Is everybody okay?" Guy shouted from above the cries and roars of monsters.

"I'm good!" Anise shouted in the mess. Light lit up from where she was shouting and a huge doll figure stood tall. "Ion's fine, too!"

"I'm with the Lieutenant," Tear's voice came up, oddly calm. "We're both unharmed. Is Luke still with you?"

"He's startled just like the rest of us," came Guy's reply.

I searched for my weapon but my hand came up empty. Shit! I swore I was holding my rifle before the impact. Did I lose it somewhere before I hit the ground? My eyes were still adjusting to the sudden lack of light so I wasn't able to see clearly. Something bright suddenly lit up, illuminating the area around it. I caught sight of my bag with my rifle sticking out of it. Without another thought, I dashed towards it.

Until I looked up.

The dino had a ball of fire in its mouth and it shot the ball in my direction. I could only gape at the flying ball of fire since fear paralyzed my entire body. The heat of the ball warmed up my front and I covered my eyes.

Something or someone tackled me to the ground after shouting something inaudible. I hit the ground pretty hard, rocks scratching my skin which stung in pain. Even without opening my eyes, I could tell I was temporary blinded from the light but it would be gone in a few seconds. Whoever it was that just saved me had their arm wrapped around me and their body was practically crushing me. A sense of déjà vu hit me as I came to a conclusion.

Jade saved me. Again.

"For the love of Yulia, why did that idiot assign someone far more idiotic than him to be his second-in-command?" the voice behind me, releasing their or rather _her_ arm from around. It wasn't Jade that was for sure. He wouldn't be talking in third person let alone insult himself or talk in a feminine voice.

"Celena…?" I asked nervously.

"No, I'm Jade. Of course not! Who else would it be?" she snarled.

"But how? When did you-" The words couldn't form as I tried to piece together what had just happened.

"You didn't call out your status when that manservant shouted your name. I figured you were doing something stupid like always." My eyes adjusted so that I saw her very angry look. She smacked me in the forehead with her left hand. "Looks like I was right. Can you stand?"

"Yeah." I told her, rubbing my forehead. Something screeched from behind and I barely had the chance to react to the monster. A silver gleam swung past my head and dug itself into the poor thing. It cried out in pain when I followed the silver path to Celena. I quickly backed away from the two of them, letting Celena dealt with the monster by quickly twisting her wrist, effectively killing the monster before a second cry of pain escaped it. It dropped to the ground dead.

"Left-handed?" I asked, looking at the dagger in her left hand. The blade was thin but looked really sharp. It could cut into anybody or thing without giving them time to register that the blade was inserted into them.

"Ambidextrous."

"Cool." I whistled, clearly impressed. Oh wait, I shouldn't be. Being ambidextrous would explain why she had two weapons instead of just one.

Her gaze narrowed at me dangerously. "Your weapon."

"In the bag near that thing's feet." I pointed to the direction I had intended to head towards. The dino looked like it was busy trying to keep the pest off of it. And by pest I meant Guy. He moved swiftly around and up the monster's back, using the spikes as leverage and slashing at the skin while he was at it.

A tsk came from Celena and without further notice, she ran off towards the direction of my rifle. I didn't even need to ask her what she was doing, so I ran after her. One of the frog monsters from the Fubras River leapt at her only to fall prey to her weapon.

Huh, for a slightly handicapped person, she had proven that she was more useful than someone like me. That stung a bit. And it wasn't coming from my cheek.

Celena stood not too far away from my rifle as I ran past her and scooping the weapon and bag up. From above Guy caught sight of me and Celena and jumped off of the dino to join us. He landed lightly and grinned at me when he straightened himself.

"For a second there, I thought you were a goner," he said to me. I opened my mouth to say something but a bright light lit up from above and I snapped it shut. Guy's look changed to a nervous one. "Save the talk for later. Let's regroup before we're charcoal."

"No disagreement coming from me!" I squeaked and took off after Guy. The monster roared loudly ready to fire but something big and yellow flew at it followed by Anise's battle cry.

Tokunaga slammed itself into the dino knocking it over and it spat the ball of fire upwards where it wouldn't harm anything but probably flying birds. It slammed into the ground, growling in pain and Tokunaga landed with a thump. To me, that meant that the rest of the group weren't too far from where we were and I guessed right. Luke was panting heavily, his sword stuck in the ground giving him the support he needed to at the very least stand up.

Tear stood in front of Ion ready to cast whatever barrier she needed to protect Ion. Though it looked like it wasn't needed. Around them, bodies of dead monsters of different variety laid. Things like claws or talons lay a few feet away from where the main body was but it was dead nonetheless.

"Was that everything?" Guy asked as we ran up to them.

"Everything but _that_." Luke pointed to the huge dino in front of us. It was struggling to get up and sounded like it was in pain.

Guy walked up to him and patted his shoulders in a comforting gesture. "Sorry, Luke, for leaving you to take care of the minions."

Luke straightened himself up and looked away. "It's not like I can do what you just did. Jumping on the creature's back and all."

"Uh, I think it's a little too early to celebrate." Anise spoke up, frightened.

We all turned to see that even though the monster was in pain, it was ready to breathe yet another fire. This time it would be a guaranteed hit and we had no time to run. Tear ran in front of us, putting up a barrier as fast as she could but there wasn't enough time to cast. The monster opened its mouth, the ball of fire growing larger and-

Water flew from the right side and slammed into the mouth of the monster. Dousing the flames with it. Yet another second blast of water was fired at it and still aimed at the mouth. The monster choked as we all turned to see Jade calmly approaching us.

"My, that is quite disastrous," he commented. "Had I come a second late, you'd all be dinner."

"And yet your timing is impeccable." Guy noted with a wry smile. "Where were you?"

A wave of a hand came from Jade clearly avoiding the subject. "Oh, this and that. Before we talk, I suggest we deal with that monster first."

Soon after he finished the sentence, a roar erupted from the dino. We all turned over to it to see it standing up. Pissed. Very pissed. It stood up in full terror, red eyes blazing mad and I thought I saw steam or smoke coming out of its nostrils.

"Oh, my, it's angry."

I couldn't help but facepalm when Jade talked lightly of it.

"Yeah, we can see that." Luke commented blandly.

"Then let's cut to the chase, shall we?"

"But none of our attacks are good enough to hit it hard." Anise protested. "I just used my best arte and looked what it did to that thing. It just knocked it over."

"We'll just wear the creature down and escape." Tear suggested. "Aside from the Lieutenant who is currently injured, none of us are strong enough to take it down even combined."

Guy nodded quickly. "I like that idea. Anybody against it?" No one protested. Not even for a second. "Then it's settled."

"Well, at least it can't shoot fire at us." Luke smirked at the dino. He paled when the monster stood right in front of us, glowering at us, and then turned. Luke made a confused face which quickly went back to being pale once more when the tail suddenly went up and crashing down.

Everybody moved to the side as fast as we could, but we still got hit by the impact the slam had made. From the corner of my eye, Anise and Celena had already secured Ion's safety and was currently moving away from the battle scene. I guessed that Ion's safety was the first priority to them. Then again, this _was_ a weaken-and-flee ordeal. Those guys being the first to run wasn't supposed to be a surprise.

Though I wished I was the one running at this moment, too.

I mean…that thing was _intimidating_. Then again, it might not be as smart as I assumed it to be. I'd rather not take any chances though.

I readied my rifle, somewhat ready for battle. Beside me, Jade looked as lax as he could be. The tail blocked my view of Luke, Tear and Guy but they were probably okay. After all, Tear was with them. A sudden roar of pain came from the dino lifting its tail up and then sending it crashing down once more. I happened to see Guy, clinging onto something (I assumed his sword), being lifted up by the tail and then jumping off of it with his weapon coated with a dripping red color.

Yep. He stabbed it all right.

"Aim for the feet!" I heard Jade commanded me.

I whipped around to him and asked, "Why the feet?"

"The feet are the most sensitive area on the body. Once we strike it, not only is it going to be in a lot of pain, but it immobilizes the creature long enough for us to flee." He casted a wind spell and a gust of wind flew at the dino. It knocked it over slightly, turning its attention to Jade and I. It was just about to strike us until it shot its head to the right where Luke and Guy were.

Well. Might as well do as he says.

I reached into my pocket grabbing the first bullet that I was able to get a hold of and insert it into my rifle. Looking through my scope, I tried to find the closest looking thing to a foot and found it. I pulled the trigger without any hesitation and the moment I fired it, the foot moved slightly so that the bullet harmlessly bounced off of it. Oddly enough, it didn't end there.

The bullet exploded.

Not just some small burst like Jade's Energy Blast but like…five times the size, damage and destruction.

I stared in awe at it as Luke and Guy ran over to us. The monster cried out in unimaginable pain, toppled over and stopped moving. Like it just passed out unconscious.

"Now is our chance!" Tear shouted, turning around and running in the direction where the other group had headed off earlier. We all followed her. Hopefully, Ion and the rest of them were in an area where it wasn't hard to track them down.

"Damn, what the hell was all that?" I heard Luke muttered to Guy.

Guy probably shrugged since he guessed, "Probably Jade's doing."

"And I told you not to use that particular bullet," Jade, who was running beside me, said with a sigh.

"You could have warned me first!" I snapped at him. The initial warning wasn't enough for me. He should have told me what it could do so that I would stash them in the Wing Pack and not at my side.

Warning now noted.

* * *

We found Ion, Anise and Celena near the edge of a forest. Two of the three had already started making sandwiches that was supposed to make up for the meal that the monster had destroyed. Celena was keeping an eye on the two of them. Anise was sighing every now and then, complaining what a waste the meal was before it was destroyed. She hadn't given us any information on what it was so I assumed it might have been the recipe she got from that chef back in Kaitzur port.

And so that meant it would remain a surprise.

After dinner, we got healed by Tear and Anise (major injuries like cuts was treated by Tear and the minor injuries like my cheek got treated by Anise) and had started on discussing on what to do from here afterward. A map lay between all of us that formed a circle around it. Guy pointed to one of the rivers on the map and drew an invisible line towards Choral Castle.

"This river here leads to our destination," he said, pulling back and crossing his arms. "I would suggest taking the river path since the monsters are pretty weak. By the time we make it to Choral Castle, we wouldn't be worn out, given that the next battles weren't going to be as difficult as the one we just faced today."

It was Celena's turn to tap the map. She pointed to a couple areas before saying, "Van and I were ambushed here and here. The first wave wasn't that difficult, it was the second one that caught us off guard. The normal land route is too dangerous. I am assuming that these monsters are placed there to kidnap the Fon Master and Luke in case they crossed these areas."

"Which means we have to take a much longer path in order to reach Choral Castle in one piece." Ion concluded thoughtfully. He looked up at Jade. "Any ideas, Jade?"

Fire flickered in his glasses. He said nothing until he pointed to the river. "As we feared, the area to Choral Castle are swarmed by monsters. Both Arietta's and wild ones. Guy's suggestion might work. The monsters in the wild are quite territorial, that means we could use that to our advantage."

"You said, 'as we feared,' Colonel," Tear pointed out. "So the reason why you weren't around earlier was because…"

"Yes, I was confirming about the amount of monsters in the area. Two of the Oracle Knights' best soldiers were bested by them. I figured either they were really strong or that they came in absurdly large numbers." He pushed his glasses up. "Also, I would suggest not using Holy Bottles from here."

"What why?" Luke asked, surprised. "Holy Bottles are what kept those things out."

"But they were the reason why we were found so easily," Guy and Tear both spoke.

Luke paled. "You're kidding."

"Unfortunately, no." Jade sighed. "The river path would be our best option."

"Let's double the security, as well," Celena suggested. "Without Holy Bottles, we would be in a fix with only one person doing the watch-out."

"All right, sounds like a plan." Guy nodded. "I'll take the first watch."

"I'll partner up with you," I volunteered myself, getting up.

Guy grinned, setting both of his hands on his hips. "Great. With that settled, everybody else decide on the next pairs and we'll switch duties in a few hours."

* * *

I sat near the fire, staring at it absentmindedly. Jade and Tear were next followed by Anise and Celena. All four of them were resting for a bit while Luke and Ion were sleeping comfortably. Luke would do his share of watching over the camp but not tonight. Which means everybody would get a chance to sleep early.

I yawned, covering my mouth. While fighting the sleep, I shifted my rifle to my other shoulder. It felt like hours had passed when it was only half an hour. Guy was checking the surroundings at this moment and he should return pretty soon.

A tall male figure came into view. Speak of the devil. I waved at the blond who was approaching the camp.

"All clear," Guy said, taking a seat not too far from me. The fire snapped and crackled as we both sat in silence. I yawned again. "Do you want to rest for a bit? I can take over the watch completely if you like."

"No, I got to do my fair share." I protested tiredly. We both end up staring back at the fire again.

"This trip is going to be long…" I mumbled.

"Yeah, it's going to be hard. Too bad we don't have something fun to do in the meantime."

Fun…fun. Fun. Hmm… Fun! My tired state was completely forgottened as a bunch of ideas flew into my mind.

"Hey, Guy."

"Yeah?"

I scooted myself closer to him and looked at him seriously. "What's a fun outdoor game to play while travelling?"

He leaned back, putting some distance between us. "You're not joking are you?" He scanned my face to see if I was and sighed. "You're dead-serious about this?"

I grinned. "Oh, yeah."

* * *

**Okay, so there wasn't much of Guy jumping around in fear and stuff but I couldn't help but wonder about it. XD That why the title is Gynophobia and not 'Testing Guy's Fear' which was seriously a name I was considering but then scratched it. **

**Anyway, one more month and Xillia comes out. I'm trying to update as much as I could before I go nuts about the game and play it constantly before touching this again.**

**Next up!**

"**Hey, hey, Luke…**_**The Game.**_**"**

**PS: I lost the game. ;P**


	18. Chapter 17: Word Games

**Yar! Games! Fun fun games! Yes, **_**the **_**game is going to be in it. XD We'll get to Choral Castle…eventually. Speaking of games, I was spending a lot of time on an MMORPG called Eden Eternal. It's so fun except for the grinding part. :/ Ah, well.**

**School's coming up next week, but it doesn't matter to me. I got a 4 hour break. X3 3hrs if my Jap professor had me volunteer in the noon class.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own TotA.**

* * *

**Chapter 17: Word Games**

The strangled cry of the monster ran in the air as it fell down dead. I heard Guy's sigh of relief as he sheathed his sword and turned around to check on everybody.

Aside from being covered in blood of dead monsters, most of us were fine. Tired, but fine.

Not me, though. I was aching from head to toe. I let myself fall down onto the ground and leaned my back against the large rock that felt cool for my body. While catching for my breath, I leaned my head back and stared at the blue sky that doesn't seem to mind the battles that was happening below it. I wanted to be like that; all carefree and stuff.

I'd already lost count on how many days since we had left Kaitzur. One thing I did know for sure: we were way behind schedule and the hoards of monsters were to blame. We had really short breaks since the monster battles took up most of the day and we were trying to get to Choral Castle asap.

Which sucked.

"What's with all of these monsters?" Anise asked, returning Tokunaga back into the doll state. She held a pouting expression as she scanned the area. "If Gloomietta wanted Ion and Luke to just come to Choral Castle, there's no reason to release all of these monsters."

"Remember, Anise, most of the monsters we had encountered are from Fubras River," Celena pointed out. "Since taking the river path, it was expected."

"True. And with all of these battles going on, Luke and Anh are improving a lot," Guy commented looking at the two of us. "If this keeps up, they'll fight just as well as the rest of us."

Luke muttered something underneath his breath. A hint of red tinted on his cheeks as he lowered his head to hide his expression.

"Oh, shut it, Guy." I placed my handgun back into its pouch. With all of the monsters jumping us, I had to limit my use of bullets. There was so much a rifle with limited ammo could do. Luckily the handgun required only fonons in the air. It was a lot easier to use cause, honestly, I didn't have time to just load the bullet, turn to the monster and fire at it. With this, it was a hell lot faster. "I'm going to be all sore way before we reach Choral Castle."

"Well now, before this goes out of hand and a certain someone gives up on us, let's be on our way." Jade spoke up, adjusting his glasses like usual. Out of everybody, he, Guy and Celena didn't appear to be tired at all. Then again, they were the experts out of the entire group.

"Roger that!" Anise's hand flew up in the air excitedly. Tokunaga on her back swung left and right as if it was trying to hang onto a jerking beast.

"Does anybody care about being sore?" I muttered as I got up.

"We all do," Tear said simply. "But ensuring the chief's safety comes first."

And now I had a sudden urge to just leave him along.

I bit my tongue from saying that out loud. I just wanted a longer break aside from the cold nights. It wasn't like we were going to nap in Choral Castle either…

Heaving a weary sigh, I pushed my thoughts away and casted a glance at Tear. Something red shifted beyond her and I saw Luke. He looked like he was eyeing something; staring at whatever it was very intensely. Following his gaze, I found myself staring blankly at Tokunaga. My brow furrowed in confusion and I looked back at Luke just to make sure I was staring at what he was staring.

Yep. He was.

"Hey, Tear," I heard Luke whisper to her. His tone was low but it was enough for me to catch what he was saying to Tear. "Can I ask you something?"

Tear gave him a confused look and then slowly nodded.

"Well," he nudged his head towards Anise, "everybody's acting like it's normal, so it was kind of hard to bring it up, but-" He jabbed a thumb to Anise's direction. "-Anise's puppet thing… How does it work? Is it Fonic Artes?"

Tear raised a thoughtful hand to the side of her face. She tilted her head so that her head rests in her hand. Looking at Tokunaga curiously she said, "Who knows."

"What do you mean, 'who knows?'" Luke looked past me to see that I was listening. He narrowed his gaze at me but didn't say anything further.

"I'm curious about it, too," Guy said suddenly.

"You were listening, too, Guy?" Luke looked over his shoulder to the blond.

"Everybody probably heard you, Luke." I looked over to the other half of the group that was ahead of us and then I looked at Guy to see that he was inspecting Tokunaga from a distance. He looked really fascinated by it now that Luke brought it up.

"Ever since that incident in Kaitzur, I always wonder how that doll operates." A glint of interest lit up in his eyes. "Luke, go ask her."

"Why _me_?"

"You're more than likely to get an answer out of her."

Luke tsked at Guy and increased his pace. He tapped her shoulder. "Hey, Anise, can I ask you something?"

"Oh, what is it, my dear Master Luke~?"

"That doll of yours…" he started.

"Oh, you mean Tokunaga?"

Luke turned to look at us, an odd look on his face before turning back to Anise. "Uh, yeah, Tokunaga… So how does it get so huge?"

Anise's eyes widened a bit and then a wry smile broke. "Well, if you must know…" She pulled him closer to whisper it into his ear. They both end up stopping and we walked past them. I saw Luke's face furrowed in confusion when we walked by. He straightened up, and caught up to us with Anise in tow.

"It's a lady's secret, she said." He told us.

I facepalmed.

"Just what are you guys doing?" Anise asked with her hands on her hips. "If you really want to know, it has to do with Fon-Tech, but the details are an Order of Loreilei secret. So, a lady's secret." Her hands made circles in the air before pointing to her cheeks.

Luke turned to Tear, "Which means…?"

Tear looked in the other direction. "I'm not a puppeteer so I can't answer that."

"Anh?"

I raised my hands up in the air. "No clue."

Luke frowned and kicked the dirt. "…Dammit, I wanna know!"

Guy laughed. "Try harder next time, Luke." He turned to Anise. "But you said, Fon-Tech, could I-"

"Nope!" Anise quickly cut in. She moved ahead of us and quickly turned around as if she was shielding Tokunaga from Guy's hands. Her hands were held behind her back looking like she was ready to counter whatever attempts he might make if he were to reach out for the doll. For all we know, she could even use it. It was only a hand's reach after all. Guy already took the hint and only frowned in disappointment.

I cleared my throat. "So…"

"I'm bored," Luke declared. His hands went behind his head, clearly lost interest in Tokunaga.

Already…?

"Well, you got to salvage the peace and quiet at this moment," Guy said lightly with a chuckle. "It's either this or battling monsters."

"Can't we have something in between boredom and battling monsters?" Luke suggested. "Something that can keep us from being bored but not battling monsters at the same time."

"Like…a game?" I asked. A grin was working its way to me.

He just shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

I grinned even more. "How about _the_ game?"

"What's that?" he asked, lowering his hands.

"The game is a game where you're supposed to forget about the game and if you remember it or someone reminds you of it, you'd have to say 'I lost the game.'"

He stared at me as if I was mad. Then turned to Tear and Guy. "Did anybody else get that?"

Tear simply shook her head, looking just as confused as him.

Guy laughed lightly. "Simply put, the point of the game Anh's talking about is to forget about it. Like she said, if you remember it or someone reminds you of it, you have to declare that you lost the game. So, just for starters, I lost the game."

"I lost the game as well!" I declared happily.

"Basically, we just let the others know that we lost?" Tear asked, confused. "Then what is the point of the game?"

"It's just for fun, Tear," Guy said. A hand rested on his hip as the other went in the air waving casually. "Though it's fun seeing Anh's frustrated face when she gets reminded of it."

Tear tilted her head to the side. "So there's a time limit?"

He nodded. "We have half an hour to forget."

"That's simple enough," Anise chirped. "Count me in! So, that means I lost the game~"

"It doesn't sound too complicated," Luke muttered. "I lost the game."

"I lost the game." Tear said. "Now what?"

"What I want to know is how did Guy know about the game?" Luke turned to the blond with curious eyes.

Guy laughed and shrugged like it wasn't much of a secret. "I've heard of it."

Yeah, from me…

"Now that we got that settled," Anise placed a hand on her hip, "What are we going to do, aside from walking, now we got about half an hour to kill before probably chaos ensues?"

I shrugged. "We could talk about…stuff."

"That's very vague, Anh."

"A bit too vague," Tear agreed with a sigh.

"Give me a minute or two and I might come up with something," I said to them. Though I already had a game in mind so technically I was lying. Buut, let's see what these guys can come up with.

"Well, what _is _there for us to talk about?" Anise asked with a light shrug. "We know what each other's occupation is about so that's out since none of us would want to give out any more information. Hmm…Let's see." Her fist collided with her open palm as her eyes lit up. "Hey, guys. I'm born on Shadow-Decan 46. Remember that."

Luke gave her the confused look. "What's that all about?"

Anise lifted a finger up with a smile on her face. "On my upcoming birthday, I expect you all to shower me with presents."

"Technically speaking, _I_ should be the one to expect the birthday greetings and such." Guy grinned at Anise. "My birthday is on Efreet Decan 41. Unless there's someone's birthday before mine."

"No," Tear said. "My birthday is near the end of the year. It's on Lorelei Decan 1."

"Luke was born on the same month as you, Tear." Guy noted. "His is much closer to the end of the year though.

"What about you, Colonel?" Anise looked at Jade with an interested expression.

He looked over his shoulders before looking forward again. The sound of him adjusting his glasses was the first thing we heard before he said, "Unfortunately, my birthday is a little later than both Guy and you, Anise. Sylph Redecan 22."

Before anyone could question her, Celena said, "Rem Decan 25. And I'm not interested in wishes or gifts."

"Well, Ion's on Efreet Decan 18. A little earlier than Guy's." Anise pondered thoughtfully, and then she looked at me. "And how about you, Anh?"

Before I opened my mouth to make up a fake date, Jade quickly cut me off saying, "Rem Decan 44."

Anise's eyes bulged. "Really? You're born on St. Chocolate's day?"

If that was the equivalent to Valentine's, sure why not? "Yeah…?"

"Lucky," Anise muttered. "Guys must have given you twice the presents on your birthday."

I laughed. "Uh, no. I don't get two presents. I mostly get one present per person. All from my family. None are from guys."

"Whaaat?" Her jaw dropped unexpectedly. "Those guys are heartless. Who doesn't want to give you presents, Anh?"

"The ones that was afraid of a backhand slap." I laughed again at the memory. Guys at my high school feared me cause I backhanded on guy out of rage. It was a silly incident when I think back to it. Made me grin every now and then when it comes to mind.

"You don't appear to be the violent type."

Well, she hadn't seen me in high school.

"Anything goes with a pretty face." Guy chuckled. "So in order, our birthdays goes Celena, Anh, Ion, me, Anise, Jade, Tear and then Luke."

"_Myuu! _Mieu's birthday is somewhere in the second season! Mieu was born in late spring." The cheagle spoke from Ion's shoulder. His little paws waved excitedly but then held fast to Ion's shoulder when he nearly toppled over. I stifled a laugh when I saw him so frightened.

Luke snorted. "As if that's specific."

"It can't be helped, Luke." Ion said with a smile. "Cheagles don't hold a calendar like we do. They can only guess based on the seasons."

Guy only laughed lightly. "Okay, I guess everyone's accounted for. Age wise…"

"I would be eldest among all of you youngsters," Jade said with a nonchalant wave of his hand. "You and Celena look like you're roughly the same age."

An eyebrow rose from Guy. Mine did, too. Just how old was she? Curious, I asked her. "How old are you, Celena?"

"Twenty-eight." She answered. "If you all are curious about the other members of the Order, Anise is thirteen, Ion fourteen and Tear is fifteen."

"F-fifteen?" Luke exclaimed staring at Tear.

Anise gasped. "Tear's only fifteen?"

Tear blushed a little. "Yes. I turned sixteen this year. Why?"

Anise's hands slapped the side of her face and stayed there. Her expression looked horrified. "No way! Anh's boobs aren't going to be able to compete with yours!" She jabbed a finger in my direction, pointing to my small bust line.

Instinctively, I wrapped both of my arms around them. "_Why _my_ boobs? _Yours are smaller, Anise! No wait, I stand corrected, you're an _ironing board,_ Anise."

"But I have a chance to make them bigger," she pointed out with a sly finger. "I'm still a growing girl, I'll have you know. You, on the other hand, you're already nineteen, Anh! You're almost past the age of growing any more…you know." She gestured to the breast area.

...That wasn't what occupied my mind. When did I turn nineteen? Wait…Luke disappeared near the middle of the first month and my 'birthday' was…Oh. _Oh…_ So I did 'turn' nineteen. Crap. Gotta keep that in mind.

I shook my head, pushing that thought away. "What about Celena? Her boobs are smaller than Tear's! And I have a couple of friends my age who's boobs are bigger!"

Tear's face paled in complete horror as Anise and I started the whole 'boob size' talk. It slowly turned red in embarrassment. The guys, on the other hand, wanted no part of our conversation but could _not_ work their way out of listening to it.

"I don't care about my breasts." Celena said. Her tone seemed a bit irked. "Larger breasts make fighting a lot harder so I'm quite satisfied with my size."

Oh, I felt sorry for the guys here. Funny thing was, none of the girls, but Tear, mind talking about it.

"I'll have you know," I said, a hand hovered over my chest. "I'm happy with my size. I _like_ my 34A cup size! Better than having a D cup."

"What's wrong with D cups?" Anise asked, huffing. "Men-"

"Change of topic!" Guy said suddenly. "I lost the game."

"Your timing sucks, Guy." I muttered. Taking a deep breath, I said, "I lost the game as well."

Anise giggled. "I guess I lost the game this time!"

"I lost the game." Tear declared. Her expression relaxed at the change of topic. Hell, it looked extremely relieved.

I couldn't help but smirk. Despite her cold demeanor, she was very shy, rather nerve-wrecked, when it came down to _that_ particular topic that tends to be kept within the same gender. Anyway!

I raised a hand in the air. "Since we got nothing to talk about, I suggest we go back to the topic we had earlier."

"_No_!" Guy, Tear and, surprisingly enough, Luke, shouted.

I lowered my hand, still smiling even though we were no longer talking about it. Guy cleared his throat. "How about that game we were talking about last time, Anh? That first-letter-last-word game."

"Oh! Is this the game I heard you two playing at some point?" Anise asked. She yanked my sleeve happily. "I wanted to join but I didn't know how it works."

"If you had a game in mind, why didn't we talk about it earlier?" Tear mumbled sounding very exhausted.

"What game were you guys talking about?" Luke asked.

Guy opened his mouth to explain but I held a hand up. "Ah ah! Don't say a word, Guy. I want Luke to say _that _first."

Luke's face twisted in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"_That_, Luke. _That._ The 'I lost the game' line."

He huffed, crossing his arms. "I didn't say I was going to play that stupid game."

"Oh? Okay, I guess we'll not do anything until you admit it."

Guy looked just as confused as Luke. "Come on, Anh. Why would you want him to declare that he lost the game before we get this one going?"

"No, but it's unfair to play a game if he's planning to mention the game to make its participants lose on purpose." I walked next to him, nudging him lightly in the side. "So?"

"It's not like it's that big of a deal," he said, lifting his chin up high in pride. "I lost the game. You happy?"

"Yep!" I waved a hand in Guy's direction. "Guy, explain how the game works."

"Why me?" he asked.

"I'm bad at explaining," I told him. "I thought we went through this. When I tried explaining it to you, you got confused until we actually played the game."

He chuckled. "Oh, all right. But be warned, guys, she's really bad with the explanation." He cleared his throat. "Basically, the first letter last word game or simply called Word Chain that Anh and I were talking about is a word game played by many people. As much as there is. One person calls out a word to a particular topic and the next word has to start with the last letter of the word preceding it. For example, if we choose the topic, let's say, colours. Anh, you pick a colour."

"Black." I said instantly.

"Anh said black which ends with a 'k'. So I start the next word starting with a 'k'." Guy's hand rubbed the side and bottom of his face as he thought of a colour. "Hmm…'k'. Khaki." He snapped his fingers before he called the colour. "It's a type of yellow just to let you all know."

"I don't even know how you manage to come up with these colours," I mumbled. "I, right? Indigo."

"And you get the point." Guy said to the others. "So who wants to continue it? Start with an O."

"Orange!" Anise chirped happily.

"Emerald." Tear said.

Luke's face curled into deep thought as he tried to come up with a colour that started with 'd'. Unfortunately, he couldn't come up with one. He wasn't the only one either.

"How about Drab?" Ion spoke up. "It starts with D."

"Good one, Ion!" I flicked a thumbs up in his direction. "That should be easier for you, Luke."

"I know that!" he snapped at me. "Blue."

"Ecru." Guy said victoriously.

"What kind of colour is that?" Luke sounded offended.

"It's…sort of like a sandy colour."

"Guy, sometimes I seriously hate you." I glared at the blond. "You said that on purpose cause no one doesn't have a colour in mind that starts with a U."

"Unmellow Yellow." Jade spoke up. We all turned to him, looking at him as if he was trying to troll us. He adjusted his glasses. "It's a colour, I can assure you that."

"Let me guess," I rolled my eyes. "It's a type of yellow."

He grinned back at me. Clearly amused. "How clever, Anh, though I'm sure the name gave the hint away."

I rolled my eyes at him again. "White."

"Eggplant." Guy said when no one picked out a colour with an E.

"Tickle Me Pink!" Anise sounded really giddy when she said that. She even laughed after she said it.

"Oh Lord, please tell me that's not a colour." I groaned.

"It's a colour." Jade said.

"…Thanks."

"KU Crimson." A different voice spoke up. Celena's.

I slapped my forehead. "Can we have some normal colour names that _don't _sound fake?"

"Navy blue." Tear called.

"Eggshell." Guy laughed.

My hand lifted upward, ready to slap myself. "_That's not a colour,_ _is it_?"

"It is."

"No one's asking you, Jade!" I turned to him and before someone else called out a word starting with L, I said, "Lavender!"

Luke gave me a weird look. "What's gotten into you? Red."

Ion laughed. "Deep fuchsia. It's quite normal."

"Ao." I heard Guy say.

I turned to him, looking at him from head to toe. "Did you hurt yourself somewhere?"

He laughed. "No. I didn't say 'Ow,' I said 'Ao'. Spelt with an A and an O. Ao is an actual colour."

"Onyx." Jade had a smile that said he stumped everyone.

"What letter does that end with?" Luke glared at Jade.

"X."

"What colour starts with X?" His hands flew into the air in rage. "There's no colour that starts with X!"

"Xanadu is a colour beginning with an X." Celena corrected smoothly.

How the hell do these people know such _weird_ colour names? Talk about a game that turned from fun to one that was completely freaking me out.

Jade smiled again. "Umber."

"Regalia." Ion.

Guy acted really quick, going, "Awesome!" followed by his laughter stating that it was a real colour.

Next thing the entire group knew, my hand smacked my forehead really hard.

* * *

"Here," Tear handed me a bag of ice. "Place that on your forehead. And refrain from slapping yourself in frustration. It's just a game, Anh."

I took the bag and placed it on my burning forehead.

A couple rounds of the Word Chain game followed by Guy's "I lost the game!" declaration, I ended up injuring myself out of pure frustration of the names of colour that was out there.

I mean, _awesome_ was a colour? What in the flipping mind of the creator of the colour made him go "This colour is awesome so it'll be called Awesome!" Worse. It was a form of pink, confirmed by Anise. Jade was clearly amused by my expressions when an odd colour was called and so he kept it up. Calling weird colour names like Banana Mania, Fuzzy Wuzzy, Razzmatazz, Razzle Dazzle Rose, Spiro Disco Ball or _Toolbox._ All of which were actual colours much to my dismay.

I found out that there were some very odd ones that would make people question the makers of the colours. Like Lust and Hooker's Green.

Man. If Zelos were here, he'd be calling those colours for sure. Hell, I was sure _Raven_ would, too.

Anyway. It was already dusk and we had to make camp. Tear was treating the burning mark I had inflicted upon myself. Of course, I dropped out of the game at some point considering that I was close to ripping my hair out. In the end, the competitors of the topic of colours ended up with Guy and Jade, neither backing down. Those two's vast knowledge on colours scared the hell out of me.

Note to self: Beware of colour topics.

Colours aside, Tear was making dinner and, since I gave myself a massive headache, I was helping her to the best of my ability. Anise and Ion started the fire with Mieu's help while the other four were searching the parameter. I saw Tear set down a basket of green beans and laid a knife beside it.

"It's a simple task," she said with uncertainty, "but I want you do string these beans. Can you do that?"

I sat up straight and inched myself closer to the basket. "Stringing beans. Sounds easy enough."

She nodded and left me with the beans. I picked up the knife and a bean. Staring at it, then back at the knife, a thought came to me. How would one _string _beans?

"Uh, Tear?"

A few minutes later, after Tear showed me the ropes of how to string beans, I started on them myself. Fearing to cut myself in the process. I remember my mom and younger sister stringing beans without ease and neither with cuts on their fingers but…

_I just can't seem to do this!_

My fingers were shaking, trying to get the job done _and_ not cut myself in the process. At some point, I yelped when I pushed the knife too hard and it touched my skin. Only to find out that it was scarred.

I was so pathetic.

But I got the hang of it. Eventually. I was just really slow and overly paranoid. Tear didn't mind about my slow pace. She said that they were just going to be boiled then added to the dish for colour. The boiling process wasn't going to take too long so I could take my time.

Not like I was going to eat it or anything. I'll feed them to Mieu. He likes his veggies, boiled or raw.

Thank God for the cheagle.

"How far are we from Choral Castle?" I asked her, nearly halfway done with my beans.

Meat sizzled on the flat pan when Tear flipped it onto the other side. She shook her head slightly. "I don't know. As long as we don't run into more monsters, we could get there in a few days or so. Worst case scenario, we could take up to about half a month."

"Half a month…" I repeated. Half a month here was a month back at home. Luke's diary said that it was Sylph Decan when he wrote it. So that meant we still got about another month and a half to reach Baticul? Yeah, I guess that was more than enough time. "That sounds long."

"Mmm." Was Tear's only response.

"Think we'll run into Van?"

"I hope not." She answered wearily. "It would cause a variety of problems."

I sighed, setting the knife down and flicking my hand. It was starting to feel stiff. "Yeah, I see what you mean. Running into him wouldn't be a good idea. But Choral Castle is big, right? Running into him would be like a one in a million chance."

"But that still holds the possibility of running into him since the number is not a definite zero." She countered softly. "Anh."

I cocked my head to the side. "Yeah?"

She opened her mouth to say something but suddenly we heard Anise, "Ah! Welcome back! All of you!"

"Welcome back." I heard Ion greeted them kindly.

Tear's mouth shut closed, her lips was pushed into a thin line as the two eldest members of our group approached us. Jade eyed the beans then the knife in my hand. A slow smile spread across his face. "Oh? Helping Tear string the beans? I'd best keep my distance. Wouldn't want to be suddenly _backstabbed_."

"Ha ha." I rolled my eyes at him, continuing my task.

"Need help?" Celena asked, looking around.

"No, it's quite all right, Lieutenant. Anh just needs to finish stringing the beans and we'll be done."

"She's doing a slow job at it." Celena noted casting a side glance in my direction.

In retaliation, I just stuck out my tongue at her. Celena gave me a disapproving look but I didn't care.

"I came here to let you both know that we've already decided on the next pairs for tonight," Jade spoke up. "Tonight will be, in order, Guy and Tear, Anh and Luke followed by Anise and myself. Celena will be taking a break for tonight."

…I guess that was fair. Everybody had their turn for rest except for Celena as of this point. However…

"Why am I paired up with Luke?" I exclaimed.

A 'Really?' look came from Celena when an eyebrow rose. "Because everybody else has been paired up with Luke aside from you?"

I frowned. "Yeah but we're both inexperienced in battle-"

"-Which is good opportunity to learn from one another." She cut in quickly.

"I have to agree with the Lieutenant on this one, Anh," Tear turned to me. "You both may be still inexperienced, but the two of you can still learn from the other to build up on both of your strengths and weaknesses. Think of it as practice in real life situations."

"I guess you have a point." I grumbled finishing the last of the beans.

The dinner made by Tear was simply Rappig meat with mash potatoes and boiled beans. I didn't do too much complaining since the only thing I didn't like about the dish was the beans. No one said much since we all wanted to stay alert in case there was an ambush like there was on the first day we set out. We were very hawkish. Somehow there were no monsters attacking us in the evening, but we did get the occasional attacks from wild monsters. For the most part, we ate our meals without being disturbed.

Good thing no one complained about how short the beans were. Me and my bad cutting.

After dinner, I scooted over to Luke who was preparing for a very short nap before our turn to guard. "So, you heard that we're being paired up and going second?"

"Yeah," he grunted.

"By the way, Luke," I said. "_The game_."

"Good night, Anh."

Total rejection. Awesome.

* * *

"Cow."

"Whale."

"Emu."

Another game of the Word Chain ensued the next morning. This time, the topic was on animals. The game was now an elimination match just to make things more interesting.

Last night, there was a small attack during our watch. Luckily, Luke and I quickly finished the monster off before it did real damage. I personally thank whatever heavenly beings out there - including Loreilei - that the monster was a weak one and not something absolutely insane for the two of us to handle.

And now, we were currently enjoying the sort of monster free morning playing a game to stave off the boredom.

"Anh," Anise called to me. "Auldrant to Anh."

I snapped myself out of thought and looked at Anise. "Yeah?"

"It's your turn. Starting with U."

"Uhh…"

She giggled. "That's not an animal."

I shrugged lightly with a smile. "I tried."

"Anh's out." Guy said. "Ion. Start a new round since it was you who called Emu."

Ion looked at Mieu then smiled. "Cheagle."

"Eel!" Anise's hand flew up in the air before adding. "Those make an edible dish!"

"Liger."

"Ram," Guy called grinning at Luke.

Luke scoffed. "M-" He casted a look behind him, towards the rest of us, and paled. "Monster!"

Anise placed a hand on her hip. "That's not an animal."

Luke jabbed a finger beyond us. "I'm not talking about the game! It's an actual monster!"

We all turned behind us to see a large tree monster that would have been called a Treant except…I kinda don't remember what kind of monster the Treant would look like in Abyss. But, ah well, close enough.

The monster was a huge tree, like I mentioned before, that was round like a bulb in the bottom with the top looking like a normal tree; loaded with leaves. The monster's vine-like hands lifted up in the air before slamming itself downward.

Every single one of us jumped out of the way, avoiding the monster. I tumbled on the ground and did something like a barrel roll on my sides until I hit something soft. Looking up, I saw Tokunaga's hand.

"Ion!" Anise shrieked. Her voice was laced with worry.

"He's fine!" Celena called back and Anise's expression immediately relaxed. I got myself up and pulled out my handgun. Luke and Guy joined us not too long after.

"What the heck is that thing?" Luke cursed when it was pulling itself towards us.

"It's called a Treant. A monster found near Deos Pass." Jade answered unexpectedly. "Fortunately for us, it's by itself." When buzzing noise erupted in the air, he sighed. "Or not."

Soon enough a hoard of bee monsters surrounded the Treant and now we got a full fight in our hands. The Treant finally caught up to us, yellow eyes gleaming with malice and another of its viney hands lifted into the air and slammed back down.

That was when the swarm of bees attacked. Deadly knife looking claws inched its way closer to me and then Luke quickly slashed it down.

"What are you doing?" he snapped at me. "Any closer and they would have ripped you into shreds."

I saw a bee coming close to Luke and I fired at it, knocking it back and giving Luke enough time to react. He quickly turned around and took it down while it was stunned. I grinned at him, "I could have said the exact same thing to you."

He grinned devilishly. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

I nodded. "I shoot and you finish it off, yeah?"

"Ooh, and teamwork suddenly forms between the two." Anise teased from beside us squishing a lot of bees like tiny bugs. Oh wait, they were bugs. Just bigger and uglier.

"I-It's not like that! I'm only doing this for survival. I don't care what happens to Anh!"

Suddenly, an evil glint lit Jade's glasses. "_How_ about this? We play this Word Chain game while trying to work our way back to Tear and Celena. The only difference is that we use sentences instead of simply words."

I opened my mouth to protest but Anise suddenly cut in. "_Splendid _idea, Colonel! I love it!"

"_That _would only be amusing if we weren't in a situation like this." Guy frowned. It quickly turned into a smile as he covered his face with a hand. "Looks like you got me." A bee came his way and he took it down in one slash followed by multiple jabs that took other bees down.

The Treant's vine hand reached for me and I shot that one while Luke slashed the arm. What I didn't expect was that blood spewed from the hand and all over the two of us. I grimaced as I wiped the blood from my face.

"_Eeew_! I got tree blood on me."

"Everyone doesn't seem to mind a little monster blood," Jade pointed out with a wry grin.

"Can you stop playing that game and be more serious?" I shouted at him stomping my foot on a dead wing. It made a crunching sound but I didn't care.

"But I am serious."

"Will you two _shut up_ and just fight?" Luke snapped at the two of us. "And where's my backup?"

I sighed at him. "Coming."

We, more like Luke, hacked our way to the side of the Treant, trying to get to Tear and the others. A burst of flame suddenly flew past me when I came up to Luke. Shocked, the both of us turned to the flame, expecting a fire breathing monster. Instead, something blue came into view.

"_Myuu_! There's Master! Tear! I found Master!"

"What the-" Luke's shocked expression disappeared and rage replaced it. "It was _you_, Thing? You could have burned us! Did you realize how close that last fireball came to us?"

Mieu covered his ears instinctively as if Luke was about to smack the poor thing. Correction, he was stepping on it. Mieu's face was being rubbed against the ground with Luke's foot over top. "I'm sorry, Master!"

"That's enough, Luke, don't scold him." Tear appeared followed by Celena and Ion. "He was just trying to clear a path for us."

"Great, the gang's all here." I smiled as the other three came to us.

"Yeah, we just need to finish off a couple of bees then the Treant," Anise stated as she pointed to the remainder of the bees. "Easy picking after."

"Uh, guys." Guy spoke up finishing off of the last of them. "Is it just me or is that a bee hive on that Treant?"

We all turned to the Treant that was slowly making its way to us. On the branches that sprout from its head was a large round objects swinging side to side in sync with the movements of the Treant. As the Treant got closer, the objects got clearer. They were a whole hell of bee hives and…

…And another swarm of bees.

"Run!" I shouted when the numbers of bees were at the very least twice the number of the first batch. No one seemed to argue as Anise scooped up Ion and ran in the opposite direction of the bees.

"Now this is what I call hit and flee." Jade's voice was close to me.

"Enough of the games!" I shouted at him when I realized he was still playing that particular one.

"Look what you did, Anh, you mentioned _the game_."

"Argh! I've had enough of games!" Luke shouted. "Stop playing them!"

"My, who put you in a bad mood?"

"Jade!"

"Coming, coming."

* * *

I sighed, shaking my damp uniform before setting them on a rock to dry. The sun was setting in the horizon and the campfire was already lit. The issue at hand? We jumped into a river to get away from the bees. They left us alone of course, but only after we were soaking from head to toe.

The guys were at the campfire, warming themselves up. The rest of us were near the river with blankets, though in my case, I was in pajamas.

Anise sneezed. "Anh, you're lucky. You got a pair of spare clothes."

"I don't know, Anise," I wiggled my bare feet that felt cold. "These pjs aren't that long; they only go down to my mid calves. Everything that wasn't covered is freezing."

"Better than the two of us still in blankets," Tear said softly. Her knees were up to her chest and her hair was pulled back. She was clinging onto the blanket from the front, trying not to shiver as much.

"Both Anh and the Lieutenant are lucky," Anise sighed, leaning back into the rock. "They both brought spare clothes. You both are so lucky."

"Hardly." I laughed. "If the Wing Pack wasn't waterproof, my spare clothes would be damp to the core."

"Not the mention the food would be all nasty and moist with riverwater." Anise added.

Something large landed not too far from us. We all turned to it to see Celena walking towards us and to the brown traveller's bag I assumed she had thrown in our direction. Like Anise said before, Celena had brought extra clothes for herself, seeing her dressed in a shirt and pants where the shirt seemed a bit big for her.

And manly, I might add.

"Here, some clothes," she said blandly. "Some of them might not be fitting but they'll be better than blankets alone."

Anise was the first to ruffle through them and pulled out a large shirt. "Whoa, these are _guy_ clothes."

Guy clothes? Don't tell me.

"Hey, Celena," I whispered to her. "Are those clothes…Asch's?"

Her eyes narrowed at me. "Say a word to him or to anybody else and I'll skin you alive."

I scooted myself back to Tear and Anise who were looking through what to wear. Her threat wasn't an empty one. Though how would I say it to Asch if I ever ran into him? _Hey, Asch, just to let you know. Your friend, Celena? Yeah, she lent us some of your clothes to wear so I hope you don't mind, mm'kay? Oh and don't worry, Luke didn't touch one._

Yeah…Somehow I get the feeling that Asch would also skin me alive, too.

"At least it's better than nothing!" Anise giggled, shoving the shirt over her head. She grabbed a rope that was in the pile and tied it around her waist so it looked like a short dress…made of shirt.

"I wish there were undergarments though…" Tear sighed, wearing a shirt with sleeves that were waay too long for her. She wore baggy pants loaded with pockets and then blushed. "I don't look weird, do I?"

"If you were a guy, Tear, I'd fall for you." Anise remarked.

"I would, too." I chimed in. "You really have a boyish feel while wearing that."

That intensified her blush. "R-really?"

"Keep the blanket over you, Tear," Celena spoke up. "I'd rather not say more." She pointed over the upper region and Tear looked down, noticing what she had meant.

"So this means we can join the guys around the fire then?" Anise asked. Anticipation was written all over her tone.

"…About that."

* * *

"Ack! Put some shirts on!" I cried out. My hands flew up to my face covering my eyes but I somehow managed to peek back at them before covering them up. First thing we saw when we came to the guys were shirtless Guy and Luke. Both with a set of abs (and muscles) that would make any girl drool but we saw Luke's abs so it doesn't matter.

Still…

Luke scoffed. "What's wrong with seeing the upper half?"

"Do I have to explain why?" I asked back. "And why is Jade the only one not shirtless?"

"Ion's not shirtless," Celena pointed out in a dull tone.

I looked over to Ion to see that he wasn't shirtless like Guy and Luke. "Oh, so he's not. But that doesn't explain why Jade is still wearing his uniform and _not_ look soaked like the rest of us."

"I have applied a fonic arte to dry my clothes faster," Jade said simply. A flick of his hand and a light breeze flew past me and towards the remaining tops belonging to the guys. "As you can see, Ion and I are completely dry and I'm currently working on finishing the rest of Guy's and Luke's. Be thankful they aren't-"

"Stop! I don't want to hear the rest." I held a hand up while another covered an ear. I already knew what he was going to finish with.

"-wearing the clothes Celena had brought for Tear and Anise." He finished. A grin spread across his face. "Now what could _you _be thinking, Anh?"

Sick bastard. I blushed, "N-nothing."

"Uh-huh…" Luke gave me a look that was wary about what I was thinking.

I shook it off with a wave of a hand. "So that means you're going to dry our clothes after, right, Jade?"

"Now why would I do that?" he asked. "Drying your clothes meant I also have to dry your undergarments. I am a man, I'll have you know."

…Yeah, but he ain't Raven either.

I rolled my eyes in irritation. "Guess our clothes are going to dry overnight."

Luke shivered. "I'm cold _and_ I'm hungry. Hey Jade, finish it up."

"You wish for me to finish the soup or the clothes?" Jade asked. "I can't do both at the once so you have to choose one."

Luke glared at him. "Just finish the soup. There's enough blankets to go around. Tear, lend me your blanket." He held out a hand in Tear's direction, expecting her to hand the blanket over that instant.

"Uh…" I looked between the two. Tear didn't seem like she was planning to hand him the blanket but it seemed that Luke doesn't want 'no' for an answer. Jade was, while stirring the soup, stared between the two, completely intrigued. He looked down to the soup so that the fire illuminated his glasses and that smile of his was freaky.

"Tear and I can share!" Anise spoke up. She ran over to Luke and handed him the blanket before running back to Tear and huddled close to the brunette.

Luke wrapped the blanket over his shoulders looking confused. "Why didn't she hand me hers?"

"It's a woman thing," Jade spoke up enjoying every minute of Luke's confusion.

"I don't get it."

"Oh, so you're not familiar with the female anatomy?"

Luke turned to Guy. "What the hell he's talking about?"

Guy looked away, not trying to explain at all. Good thing, Guy didn't explain cause that would have been completely awkward. Especially when it was coming from a guy _and_ right before dinner. Seeing as Guy wasn't planning on explaining any time soon, Luke looked at everybody else and each of us didn't want to explain.

"Will _someone _explain this to me?"

"Soup?" Jade held up a bowl filled with soup, changing the subject entirely.

"Luke, get the hint that it's an awkward topic." I mumbled.

"Did you say something, Anh?" He shot me an angry glare.

I coughed. "The game?" I blinked innocently at him.

"Anh!"

More innocence from me. "What? I'm just saying! We haven't touched the game in a while."

Ion laughed. Lifting his bowl of soup he had received from Celena he said, "Let's eat. The soup smells really good. And it would be a shame to put such a delicious hot meal to waste."

"Yeah, it smells real good." Anise took a big whiff of the soup before saying a quick prayer and digging in.

Tear had also helped herself with some soup but I noticed she was being cautious. Smirking to myself, I got myself a bowl and began eating as well. I occasionally passed a couple of my veggies to Mieu who ate them in bliss. Couple scoops into the soup, I noticed that the meat had a different taste to it as I continued chewing it.

"Jade, what meat did you use in the soup?"

"Beef, why?"

"It has an interesting taste," I told him, returning to my soup.

A sly smile broke out from his face. "Ah, you must mean the spice I added into the soup."

Really? I had a carrot chunk and licked it once it was inside of my mouth. Huh…That also had that taste I could tell but couldn't put a finger on it. A couple licks later, it tasted like…carrot. "What'cha put in it?"

"Oh, nothing special."

My eye twitched. "Like?"

"I found it in the Wing Pack, so I decided to use it to see what it tastes like. Interesting flavour, no?"

"Don't put us in suspension, Jade," Guy lowered his spoon and bowl. "Just tell us what the spice was."

"From my knowledge, it wasn't a common type of spice. It's called five-spice. If I recall correctly, parts of it came from Anise."

We all turned to Anise who looked just as clueless as we did. She crossed her arms to form an X. "Don't look at me. I don't have a clue what he means. I don't have any type of spices on me."

"No? If I recall correctly, half of the ingredients _did _came from Anise."

We all looked at our bowls then at Anise and back. Did Jade just…?

"So when he said the spice…" Tear stared down at the soup.

"Came from Anise…" I continued feeling completely disturbed. I didn't dare say the rest of it.

"Parts of me were made in this soup?" Anise exclaimed in horror.

"He's talking about the plant called Anise." Celena said. She sounded like she was unable to handle Jade's joking any further.

Anise's pale face turned bright red with rage and her cheeks puffed out. "Boo! You're mean, Colonel! Boo!"

"That's not funny, Jade!" Luke sneered at him. "I thought you actually put pieces of Anise in this soup!"

Jade's smile grew. "I simply said they came from Anise. I didn't say it came from you, Anise."

"His sense of humour is very disturbing…" Guy mumbled.

"We're better off talking about nipples." I rolled my eyes and going back to my soup.

A set of collective groans followed my comment.

* * *

I woke up early, thinking that Jade was going to disturb me in my sleep for practice. I later found out that he hadn't done that. Better yet, I didn't see him anywhere in the camp. Luke's snore was heard not too far from me and I caught the sight of blue ears flicking up into the air and then settling back down to where Ion slept. Tear and Anise shared a blanket since both of their clothes were still damp and their current borrowed ones were too thin. Guy wasn't here nor was Jade and Celena.

Now who was on guard duty last?

"…_doing_." I heard Jade's voice off at the distance.

My brow furrowed. What was he doing so far away from the camp? I started to make my way over there but I noticed that my uniform along with Tear's and Anise's were dry and folded up nicely. I reached for my uniform and I heard someone come to the camp.

"Up already, Anh?" I heard Guy's voice asked. My gaze going up to him, he appeared really pleased at something.

"Did something happen that you look like the sun?" I asked jokingly as I picked up my uniform, careful not to drop anything else that was buried in there.

He only grinned at me and walked over to Luke's sleeping figure. "You'll see." He gently shook Luke and earned himself a snort and an indecipherable mumble. Luke turned to the other side, clearly planning to ignore Guy. He only sighed and moved on to Ion. "Help me wake up the others."

I shrugged. "Sure." I couldn't sneak away to find out what Jade was doing otherwise everybody would wonder the same thing. Once again, I was kept in the dark by him.

I gently poked Anise's cheek and she stirred immediately. Her shifting woke up Tear as well and the brunette sat up, wiping out the sleep in her eyes.

"Morning already?" she mumbled.

"It appears so." Tear said. She pulled a hair behind her ear staring at Guy. "Did you find something, Guy?"

"Yep. And you'll guys would like it. A lot." He added before gesturing to us to follow him.

Only that Luke wasn't up. I knelt by him and poked him like I poked Anise. He stirred but didn't get up. When I poked him again, he swatted my hand away in annoyance.

"Luke." I whispered grabbing his shoulder this time. "Guy wants you up."

"Wake me up later," he mumbled turning over.

Well, he wasn't planning to get up any time soon. I frowned. What could I say to get him up? Anise used sushi and such on me and I jumped out of bed almost immediately. Luke's favourites? Hell, I don't know them.

Then an idea struck.

Grinning, I shook him again. "Hey, hey, Luke. I heard what Guy was going to show us. You wanna hear it?"

He only grunted.

I leaned closer to him. And with my best creepy voice, I went, "The game."

His eyes snapped open and he sat up. "Can you be serious for once in your life?"

"He's up, Guy~" I called to him completely ignoring his question.

"Come on, Luke." Guy called back to us. "You'll like this news, trust me!"

Grumbling, Luke got up. Reluctantly, I might add.

The two of us caught up to Guy and the others and we found ourselves staring at a rundown mansion. Stone pillars that once stood as an arc was broken and blocked the entrance. The walls that formed a barrier around the mansion looked worn out and were chipped here and there. There was a huge gap big enough for us to enter from there. Vines grew from various places and moss grew from cracks. Part of the roof of the building was cracked and fell apart right before our eyes. Dust flew up into the air and settled back down. Slowly.

"I didn't think we were this close." Jade suddenly remarked from behind us.

"Where did you come from?" Luke jerked away from him.

"Elsewhere." He answered. "Celena will join us soon. She said she was taking an early morning dip to wake herself up."

"Wow, that's it?" Anise's tone was in awe. She leaned forward as if she was trying to get a better view.

"We wouldn't have known we were this close since it was really dark last night." Guy looked back to us. "It's all downhill from here so we can make it by midday if we leave now. It's a little off to say this but welcome to Choral Castle."

* * *

**Choral Castle in the next chapter. Yay~ For your information, yes all of those colours that was listed there **_**are**_** actually colours despite the ridiculous names. I laughed so hard when I saw them. XD**

**Next up!**

"_**You mean to say this place is **_**haunted**_**?"**_


	19. Chapter 18: Haunted Mansion

**Apologies to the uber long break before posting this. I just…never got around to doing anything really. XD I ended up playing too much Xillia and then Skyward Sword and this is what happened. Me slacking off on a lot of stuff. *coughfinalscough* And did a lot of slacking during Winter Break.**

**Also, see what I did to the title there? Disney reference. XD**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Abyss. Just love the game.**

* * *

**Chapter 18: Haunted Mansion**

The sound of my alarm playing Bump of Chicken's _Karma_ went off. I stirred in my bed, trying to ignore the song the best I could. I was so close to dozing off again until someone murmured and stirred from below. Next thing I knew, that someone kicked me from underneath my bed.

I jolted up, nearly banging my head to the ceiling that was a bare inch away from my head. Even though I was sitting up on my bed, my eyes were glued shut. The greatest challenge was to get them opened and then to swing my blanket off my lap, letting the warmth disappear to the cold morning. I wanted to lie back down but a second kick came; this time with more force. I groaned. "I'm up."

It wasn't like the person sleeping below me hit the mattress so hard. It just felt uncomfortable sleeping there with a person more than willing to continue kicking you from underneath.

After tossing my blanket to the side, I swung my leg over the bed frame and climbed down the ladder. I caught sight of my sister, who slept in the bunk below, covering her ears with her blanket, blocking out as much sound as possible. Shaking my head at my sister, I turned around and just stared lazily at the dresser where my alarm clock was still playing _Karma_. Still tired, it felt like I had put so much effort into stretching out my arm and pushing that little button on the alarm to turn off the song. The minute the song stopped, I stood there, not minding me sleeping while standing. It was so much effort just to climb back up to bed to sleep again. I was down and I might as well get ready. My eyes slowly adjust to the time that was registered on the clock.

8:02.

_Joy_.

Yawning, I placed my hand on the door but paused for some reason. I remembered having a dream not too long ago but I couldn't seem to recall it at the moment. It shouldn't bother me at all since it was a dream…

But it felt like I was forgetting something.

I shook my head. I had to get ready for work. I knew my uncle would scold me for being late and all.

I bathed, dried my hair, dressed myself and was out of the door within an hour. Half of that time I was spending time on my laptop, checking up on my friends on the forum, then emails and other stuff I do as a daily habit. If I had a car, I would have used that to get to work and spent more time goofing off.

That was…if I _had _a license and the restaurant I was working in wasn't located downtown. As if parking wasn't hard to find in the first place, I'd rather not pay twenty some dollars per day just to park there and have difficulty getting out after working for only a mere four hours. So, in the end, it was transit for me. Cheaper than driving to work and I felt more comfortable transiting seeing as I transited most of the time for university when I was at school.

But something was missing.

Even when I boarded the train, I still couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling at the back of my head. I know I had forgotten loads of things in the past but I would have remembered what I had forgotten the minute I stepped onto the bus or halfway towards my station.

And even now I still couldn't put my finger down on it.

It was getting extremely annoying. I decided to push that nagging feeling aside and maybe it would come back to me sometime later during the day. It wouldn't make a difference anyway. If I remembered what the item was on the bus or train, it was still too late to get it. So it would be at home regardless.

"_Seventh Street West Station," _the automatic announcer said in a monotone voice. "_This is the downtown train; destination Tenth Street West. If you are travelling north, please disembark and-_"

Disembark and transfer to the northwest train, blah blah blah. I still heard all of that even with my earphones in my ear. Blasting music didn't help at all. I was surprised that no one decided to change that monotonic announcer to a hip and happier one. I remember the train driver doing that, sounding extremely cheerful even thought it was six in the morning, but that was a rare event. I got up and left the train before I ended up walking even further for work. Luckily, the station I got off on wasn't too far from my workplace. A two minute walk from it really. I turned on a corner that lead straight to my uncle's restaurant.

The minute I walk to the door, I saw a familiar brunette washing the glass door while humming a soft tune. Her hair was tied back and she had already donned the uniform of the restaurant. Which…only consisted of a shirt with the restaurant's name and wear-whatever-you-want-but-it-has-to-be-black pants.

"Tear~" I called to her. "Morning~!"

She turned around, not surprised, and smiled back at me. "Good morning, Anh. You're early today."

"Not as early as you," I pointed out as I stepped up the stairs.

"It was because of you that I got this job, I had to do my best."

I playfully rolled my eyes. The restaurant opened only a week ago and we were short on waitresses. So I asked Tear to come help me even though she lacked in the speaking in another language department. Hell, _I _couldn't speak my own native language, Vietnamese, and I still got hired. Then again, I asked my uncle if he needed someone to work for him during the summer so…

Anyways, I just hope my uncle doesn't use too much Vietnamese in front of Tear.

Well, it shouldn't be much of a problem, would it?

My phone vibrated in my pocket, letting me know that someone had texted me. I flipped it open the minute I pulled it out of my pocket, took a quick glimpse at the sender, opened the message and smirked as I read its contents.

"You have a weird smile on you," Tear noted as the both of us enter the restaurant. I dismissed it with a wave as soon as I close my phone. Since I didn't want to say too much about it, Tear simply let it go as if it was nothing.

She probably assumed that it was from my boyfriend but it was more of a surprise for her. Sortof…

"Van-Anh!" the sharp call from my uncle when he used my full name. I only winced at the loud sound and my uncle appeared from the kitchen. He eyed Tear first. "Where's Van-Anh?"

"Anh just arrived." Tear pointed to me and my uncle just stared at me when I gave him a small greeting bow.

"Oh, there you are. Go get ready." He pointed to the area behind him where the washrooms were.

I sighed, making my way to the washroom before he said another word. Was that the only reason why he barked my name? Ugh, why didn't he just call for me normally and why does he have to act like that?

"He seems to be giving you a hard time," Tear said once I came out of the washroom after slipping on the shirt that had the restaurant's name on.

"I don't know why he does that though," I mumbled, grabbing a black homemade mini apron and wrapping it around my waist. I patted my waist to double check that my notepad and pen were in the pouch. "On the positive side, at least we get free lunch after this."

"Is food all you think of these days?" she asked with a sigh.

"Not true," I huffed setting both of my hands on my hips. "I think of games, internet, food…" I began listing things off, lifting one finger at everything I could think of. My count was stopped halfway when the door opened and the entrance bell rang.

I quickly turned around, smiling at the customers. "Hi! For how many?" I quickly noted the number of people there before they gave an answer. I then nodded and grabbed the menus as another set of customers came in. Tear took care of them as I led the ones I had to a table.

And so the busy day began.

From 11:00 to sometime after 1, the entire restaurant was busy and packed. All of the waitresses, including Tear and I was running up and about, filling out orders and checking up on customers. Occasionally, me, my cousin, or Tear would handle the cashier whenever my uncle decided to act like the manager he was supposed to be. The entire area was so bustling and busy, none of us had the time to stop and chat. Mostly, we just shout at each other when a request needed to be filled ASAP.

When it was close to 2, the business died down to the point where there would be one or two customers still lingering. After that, there wouldn't be any customer except for the occasional customer that wanted take-out.

That was when everybody did their share of cleaning duty. Once that was done, we get to eat.

I sighed, setting myself onto a chair. "I'm so tired." I leaned my head back and it bumped against the wall behind it. I had already placed my order for lunch and it was being prepared at that moment. The smell of delicious beef noodles wafted from the kitchen and that alone made my stomach growl in anticipation.

"Everything tires you out when it includes work," Tear pointed out, finishing the rest of the cups she had to dry as part of her cleaning duty for the day.

My cousin said something in Vietnamese that made me smirk. I grabbed the napkin I was planning to use soon and tossed it at her at the table in front of mine. It floated in the air before floating harmlessly to the ground; completely missing my target. My cousin turned around and laughed at me before returning to her calculations.

Tear's head tilted to the side, confused but intrigued at the same time. "Did I miss something?" she asked taking out the hairpin that held her bangs up.

"Oh, My just insulted me by calling me lazy." I told her with a wave of my hand in my cousin's direction. My cousin and I were pretty close. If I had something to insult her back with, it would be her name. Many people would mispronounce it; Tear included, when they first saw the spelling. Aside from the Vietnamese, no one ever figured out that it sounded like 'me', so it became an inside joke between us.

"You _are_ lazy." Tear scoffed before heading into the kitchen. She came out not too long after, keeping the door opened. "Anh, there's some shrimp salad rolls left. You aunt wants to know if you want them."

"I'll pass for today," I called back to her. "Tell her I'll take some home, though."

Tear nodded and disappeared back into the kitchen. And then poked her head back. "Someone's vermicelli's ready."

"My!" I said around the same time my cousin said, "Me!"

Tear blinked, confused. "So, is it My who asked for the vermicelli or was that you, Anh?"

I grinned again. "My!" This time I was pointing to my cousin who raised her hand to let Tear know. She got up and went into the kitchen to grab her lunch as Tear settled down on the seat across from the table.

"You both are confusing," she sighed.

"I love doing that to you," I teased, leaning forward and resting my chin on my open palm. Tear only sighed back at me.

The entrance bell rang and My was the first one to get to the customer. She had set her lunch on her table and greeted the customer with a sweet 'hi'. From out of nowhere, she went, "Tear! You're boyfriend is here!"

"I don't have a boyfriend," she retorted as I laughed my ass off.

I leaned to the left and looked over my shoulder, at the entrance. Smiling, I waved at the person coming in. "Hey, Luke! Nice haircut!"

He fingered his short red hair; a pink hue lit his cheeks before waving back at me. "Hey, guys. Just stopping by."

"For like the second time this week," I commented. I stood up, letting him take my seat when I took the seat beside Tear's.

He simply shrugged. "What can I say? Your aunt makes good food. Think you can place an order for me?"

"We're still charging you for that." I set a hand on my hip.

He laughed. "Never asked you to give it to me for free."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Rich boy." I turned around and tapped the machine to place his order. "Same one as before, right?"

"Yeah," he said, waving a hand in my direction.

"So what are you doing here, Luke?" I heard Tear asked.

I bit my lower lip when he gave her a weird look. "I texted Anh earlier to tell you guys that I was dropping by." There was a pause before he connected the dots "…Let me guess: she didn't tell you?"

"No, she didn't." She shot me a not so pleased look the minute I snorted.

"I see." Luke gave me his own version of a not so pleased look. Though it looked more amused than anything else. "Anyway, Jade wanted me to let you all know to set this Saturday free."

I set Luke's drink in front of him looking just as confused as Tear was. "Why?"

He shot me an 'it's Jade' look. "Beats me. When does that guy explain things?"

I tapped my cheek, replaying all of the events he had set up for us. Yeah…none of them were explained. "That's true..."

"I'm guessing that everyone else is coming?" Tear asked.

Luke nodded. "Guy already told me that he can come for sure. As for Anise, she said she should be able to come, but only if someone comes to get her and to drop her off afterwards. I think she said she wanted to check some place on the way home. I sent Natalia a text but she hasn't replied yet so I'm assuming she's busy at the moment. And then there's you two."

"I don't have school so I'm up for it." I said. Tear nodded in agreement. "But I want to know what Jade's planning for the weekend."

"He's close to your side of the family, Anh, why don't you ask him?" Tear suggested.

Haha, yeah right. He was only close to my family regarding the business area. I rolled my eyes. "Like he tells me anything…"

Luke laughed. "Well, it's Jade. It's not like him to haul us to the wilderness, dump us there with few supplies and then ditches us and watch the action from a rented cottage somewhere close to there."

There was an awkward silence between us at Luke's suggestion. A gloomy aura had made its way above us, slowly seeping downwards and into our minds.

"He just might do that." I said drearily.

"I think he might." Luke agreed looking completely terrified.

"That suggestion aside," Tear spoke up. "Luke, don't you have a quiz on Monday? Do you even have time to even drop by here?"

Luke blinked a couple of times before diverting his attention to elsewhere; taking sudden fascination to the glass cups in front of him. I mimicked Tear's dark glare the minute he did that.

"Luke…" I said darkly.

"It's not like I need it for post secondary!" he protested. "I don't even know why I'm taking the class in the first place!"

I shrugged. "You might need it as a prerequisite for a course at the university. Who knows what you might take."

"But it's a quiz, Anh. A _quiz_." He stressed the final word like it was a big deal. "Even if I didn't do so well in it, it's only a small bit of my final mark so why should it matter?"

"High school graduates are so carefree…" Tear mumbled.

I nodded, thinking about after my high school graduation. "Agreed."

She shot me a look. "Anh's _too _carefree…"

"Agreed." Luke nodded giving me a similar look. "Which reminds me, Anh, you mention about playing a game recently and wanted me to come play with you. What's the name of the game?"

I clapped gleefully. "It's so much fun right now! I'm playing it with my brother but you have to play it too so that we can geek out together! It's called Tales of the Abyss!"

Suddenly, Luke and Tear gave me weird looks like I was the lunatic. I was used to those looks seeing as I did spaz like a geek pretty often. Except this one gave me the chills. The two of them looked at each other and then back at me. I returned their odd looks with a confused one of my own.

"Anh…" Tear started.

"You _are_ in Tales of the Abyss." Luke finished for her.

My expression fell. "What are you guys talking about? _I'm _playing the game at home. The main character's name is-"

"Luke fon Fabre." Luke said pointing to himself. "That's me, Anh."

I paled. The blood just rushed out of my head as the thing that I forgot came back to mind. "Wait…then. How?"

"It's time for you to wake up." Tear reached out and pinched my cheek extremely hard.

"Ow ow ow ow OW!" I shouted smacking the hand that was pinching my poor cheek. I leaned my head to the side so the sore area touched the hard cold ground beneath me. Even with my eyes closed I could tell I was in a dark room.

A giggle erupted from a familiar voice. "She's awake now, Tear."

"Yes, I can see that."

Slowly, I opened my eyes. They slowly adjusted to the dimly lit room and I caught the sight of two figures. Tear was on my left, so that meant it was Anise who pinched my cheek so hard. I would have had revenge on my mind if the surroundings were a little less gloomy and dark. We were flanked by slimy mossy walls with the only exit to this God forsaken disgusting place was the jail bars in front of us and the pungent smell of something stagnant in the air was making me sick to the core. I took another look around the area and noticed that it was just the three of us in a dungeon like cell. No sign of the guys or Celena.

"Where are we again?" I asked.

"In a dungeon in Choral Castle." Tear explained calmly. "We were knocked out and were brought here. I'm assuming that the others are in a separate chamber seeing that Luke and Ion were the enemies' targets."

"That Gloomietta!" Anise cried out in disgust. "She took our weapons and left us to rot in this dungeon!"

"I find it odd that she hasn't killed us while we were all unconscious…" Tear pondered out loud.

I slowly nodded in agreement. It didn't make any sense why Arietta would leave us, including myself, alive. I mean, wouldn't killing us satisfy her revenge for killing her family? What was the main reason why we were still alive? I hugged my legs closer to my chest as I recalled the incident before being unconscious.

* * *

We made it to Choral Castle by midday. Now when I heard summer home that belonged to the Fabres, I would be imagining a beautiful mansion with white, pristine rocks walls, an arch that stood above a metal gate to prevent intruders and all those sparkles and shit. Now take that mansion, destroy some of the walls and add moss and chips, put some cracks and holes in the mansion and add destroyed windows. Put a gloomy atmosphere above the mansion, make it look like the place was out of bounds and that would be Choral Castle now.

The gate was totally inviting us to walk over there and stab ourselves with its prodding prongs.

Guy scratched his head at the entrance and laughed nervously. "I know the gate doesn't look like it would let us in, but there's an alternative entrance."

"You've been here before, Guy?" Tear asked as we all moved away from the gate with Guy in the lead. From behind, I saw him nod slowly.

"I was. Seven years ago. But now is not the time to explain, we're here." Guy stopped at looked over to his right where a large chunk of the wall had fell and crumpled into a series of smaller rocks. Guy went in first by steadily walking up the pile of rocks, testing each one to make sure it was stable before continuing on. Afterwards, when he reached to the top of the pile, he motioned to us to come up. One by one, we followed him step by step. It wasn't that bad. I mean, worst case scenario, we might have to climb the walls. And I wasn't sure my rock climbing skills would be up to it.

After making our way in the courtyard of the mansion, Luke looked around the place and his nose wrinkled in disgust. "_This_ is the place they found me in…? It's falling apart. It looks haunted." He added after taking a good note of the detail.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, Luke." Jade adjusted his glasses, looking quite devious. "Rumor has it that if a building was abandoned for a large period of time, monsters would take over the place."

Luke looked like he was already bored of the story. "And?"

"Oh, nothing," Jade shrugged. He tucked his hands into his pockets as he smiled a not so friendly smile. "I was just about to say that some monsters prey on others and the monsters that were preyed might have a strong enough feeling of hatred to reappear as poltergeists."

"What's a poltergeist?" Luke asked.

"Ghosts." I answered in layman's terms.

"Technically, a poltergeist is a phenomenon where inanimate objects animate themselves." Jade corrected. "Though most people simply refer them to as ghosts or spirits, I'd refer to them as poltergeist since, from personal experience, ghosts and spirits actually exist as monsters."

Luke's face paled to the point it rivals mine and Tear's. "So…You mean to say that this place is actually _haunted_?"

"Not at all, it was simply a speculation."

"Well, from _my_ personal experience, you won't see any ghosts or poltergeists in here, Luke." Guy patted his shoulder in reassurance. "Ghosts aside, does this place brings back any memories? Like when you were kidnapped?"

Luke gave the place one more scan and frowned, rustling his hair in frustration.

"You can't remember anything from your childhood, can you, Luke?" Anise asked, pitying the redhead.

Luke looked at Anise before looking forward again. "Well… My memories really only start from the point I got back to the manor seven years ago."

Anise ran up to him, hugging him around the arm. "That's so sad… I'll help you get your memories back!"

While Luke tried to continue walking and getting Anise to latch off of him. I turned to Tear who was scanning the area very carefully. She was on high alert as if something or someone was about to ambush us. "Tear?"

"Something's not right." She said, gripping her weapon tightly. It wasn't in fear but more like she being cautious. "No one's lived here for ages, but there are signs of recent activity."

I tilted my head to the side and looked around again. She had a point. While there were some random areas where rocks mold like there were no tomorrow, some areas were mold and moss free like something ate it or something. In addition to that, some areas had something that either uprooted itself or was uprooted, leaving the ground a nice patch of brown soil. No mold, no nothing.

Haha…not so creepy what so ever.

"Monsters…" Mieu's squeaky voice said. I saw the cheagle cover his ears as he hid behind Ion. "I can feel them."

"It makes sense since Gloomietta's here." Anise had already unstuck herself from Luke and pulled Tokunaga into her arms.

"Now that we do know that the chief engineer is definitely here," Guy gripped his sheath. "Let's look inside. Everyone should stay ready in case there's an attack. The upcoming battles might be harsher than the ones we've seen before."

"Everyone's so high-strung," Jade commented followed by a sigh.

"No, that's just you being carefree," I returned. Like everyone else, I was prepared for battle. Instead of using my handgun, I had my rifle ready for battle. It felt like a long time since I had used this weapon but it seemed that muscle memory was glad to feel the weight of it in my hands. I turned to Ion who was at the back of the group. "Are you sure you want to come? I mean, this might be an all out battle."

Ion simply smiled. "Please, don't worry about me. Let's not forget, Celena's here as well." He nudged his head towards the person who stood beside him. As quiet as she was when we got here, she hadn't made a single sound. Instead, she was staring at the walls as if she was noting down every single detail of it.

"In any case, if the battles get too complicated, you can always count on Celena to be the first to flee with Ion." Jade smirked at her. The aforementioned person diverted her gaze to Jade and returned her own smirk.

"For once, we agree to something."

"_Luke!_" Guy's voice rang out with worry. My gaze fell to the front of the group where I saw Luke's figure getting smaller by the second. Not too far from where he was stood, a lone molding statue stood there ominously.

And if memory served me right.

I ran up to him, ignoring Guy's warning to not go ahead, and grabbed Luke's jacket, yanking him back as hard as I could. Luke cursed for a second, turned around and glared at me menacingly before he yanked my hand off of his jacket.

"What's your problem?" he snapped.

"Didn't you hear what Guy said earlier?" I snapped back at him. I darted my gaze to the statue and then back at Luke. No sign of it moving. Yet. In a lowered voice, I whispered to him, "He said not to go ahead!"

"Why the hell are you whispering?" he asked in a louder tone. "There's nothing here!"

"Because!" I hissed. "That thing behind you isn't what you think it is!"

"What you mean this?" Luke jabbed his finger to the statue. He walked over to it and stared at it. He started waving his hand in front of its face seeing if it was going to move. When it didn't react, he drew his sword. I was wincing the entire time and finally closed my eyes when he swung his sword at it. The sound of the sword ringing was the only sound heard. I had to dare myself to peek a glance at Luke who sheathed his sword.

The statue never budged.

I relaxed as Luke walked back to me. "You see? It's just a statue. There's nothing wrong with it."

"You two!" Guy's voice shouted. The two of us turned to him. His eyes were wide with horror as he pointed behind us. He wasn't the only one whose expressions were in horror. Anise, Tear and Ion's faces were getting paler by the second. Guy was now emphasizing us to take a good look at what was behind us. And so we did.

Standing right behind us at a 90 degree angle to the statue that Luke had attacked, was an exact replica of the said statue. Except that it wasn't there the last time we looked in that direction.

"Keep your eye on it and move back to us slowly." Guy instructed in a low tone. "Try not to make too much noise. I think it's sensitive to sound."

Slowly Luke and I backed away from the statue while watching it like Guy instructed. This honestly reminded me of that weird episode on Doctor Who that my sister showed me. Something about moving statues that animates themselves if someone wasn't staring at it.

But it wouldn't make sense since Guy and the others saw it coming to us. Oh god, please don't tell me it was an actual monster that would attack people randomly...!

I whimpered and suddenly the statue opened its yellow eyes. The blood suddenly stopped rushing to my head and all I could hear was some sort of a high pitched sound in my left ear. I found myself unable to move and I lost the feeling in my fingers. My grip on my rifle and it hit the ground. The statue's eyes suddenly focused onto the rifle and slowly moved upward.

"Anh!" Guy hissed. "Keep moving!"

I-I couldn't move. I was too scared to even move an inch. Oh God! It felt like I was in a horror movie and my next move would determine if I would die or not. That kind of decision…I wasn't ready to make.

So I did the first thing I could think of. "Jade! Help me!"

The yellow eyes glowed and dust started to fall off of the statue as it took one giant leap towards me the minute Luke shouted 'Idiot!' before drawing his sword.

Before the statue was able to slam itself onto me, Tokunaga suddenly blurred my line of view followed by the sound of something hard hitting the ground. My knees weakened and I lost the ability to stand. Tear was already at my side, yanking on my arm.

"Anh, you have to move!" she shouted at me. "You can't stay here where you could be hurt. Anh!"

I stared blankly at the battle before me until a white hand landed on my face; smacking me right back to my senses. I blinked a couple of times before rubbing my cheek as a stinging pain made its way to my brain. I stared at Tear with my surprised wide eyes.

"Anh, fall back." Tear told me more sternly.

I look back at the monster that was being handled by Anise, Guy and Luke and I simply nodded at Tear. "R-right." I got up, scooped up my weapon and ran back to the back of the group where Jade, Ion and Celena were. Before I got to them, the ground shook with a large force, making me look back to see what had happened. Half of me thought that that thing had crushed someone but to my relief, it had just split up into the two parts I was very familiar with. The large statue and its moving drawer.

As the large statue was being dealt, the moving drawer was making its way closer to our direction. It wasn't until a blast of energy appeared, knocking the thing back and Guy changing targets that I decided to pick up the pace.

"I won't apologize for what I did." Tear told me when I made my way back and settled myself beside Jade.

I gave her a quick glance before touching my cheek. "Yeah? Well, I guess I deserve it."

"Get ready!" Celena told us. She was already on the defense, looking like she was about to protect Ion at all costs while Jade was casting a spell. I took a spot at Jade's side for a number of reasons. But…only one of them was in the forefront of my mind.

"Sorry," I said to him, readying the bullet without looking up at him. I only caught a glance at Jade's body shifting a little and, at that moment, I bit my lower lip. Shame just ambushed me and settled in my thoughts. Was he upset about what I did earlier? Now that I thought about it, that monster didn't appear too scary after my adrenaline rush disappeared. I felt my cheeks heat up in embarrassment but what could I do now? It was already over and now there was a battle that needed to be over.

I looked into my scope and aimed for the moving drawer. Since Anise and Luke were dealing with the statue with Jade as their support, so I thought I'd give Guy a helping hand. I figured that since I couldn't hit the statue without hitting anybody else by accident, I could at least disable the drawer. I aimed for one of the legs and glanced at Guy hoping that he wasn't going to move into my line of fire. Guy had already noticed that I was going for the drawer so he made his way around it. That was when I closed my finger around the trigger.

Ignoring the long forgotten bang from my rifle, the bullet flew right to the leg of the drawer, hit dead on and…ricochet off the leg and indented itself hard onto the wall. Not even fazing it for a second. I peered back onto my scope to see that my bullet had only scratched it.

"Oh, come on!" I cried out loud. "That should have done more damage!"

"No, that was perfect!" Guy shouted before sheathing his sword. "Void Tempest!" Guy pulled his sword out of its sheath with such amazing speed, it impacted on the leg that my bullet had struck it earlier and broke it completely. The drawer heaved onto one side and was out of battle.

As for the other one.

…It had crumbled to pieces and Luke fell to the ground, completely exhausted. Anise jumped off of Tokunaga and it shrunk back to a normal sized doll backpack.

Guy sighed, sheathing his sword. He looked at Luke and then at me. "And that's why I told you both to stay close."

"Sorry…" I mumbled.

"It can't be helped. Keep this in mind for next time." Tear placed both of her hands on her hips. "When we get a surprise attack, our formation was broken and we didn't have enough time to prepare for battle. I hope you both learned your lesson."

Luke tsked at Tear. "Shut up! How was I supposed to know that? And what the hell was that thing, anyway?"

"Perhaps a _poltergeist?_" Jade suggested with an evil grin. My face paled at the thought of it even though in the back of my mind, I knew full well that it wasn't one.

"E-enough with the poltergeist talk!" I cried out, gripping my rifle closer to my chest.

"No, that's clearly a fontech machine." Guy said, examining the drawer closely.

"That's correct, Guy," Jade nodded in agreement. "It's a fontech doll designed to eliminate intruders. This is a relatively recent model, though it looks like it had seen better days."

"But why would a fontech machine be doing here?" Guy asked out loud. His gloved hand touched his chin as his eyes narrowed at the machine thoughtfully. "I thought our enemy would be simply Arietta and her monsters. I highly doubt she would want any form of assistance from fontechnology."

"It's not Arietta's area of specialty to use fontechnology either." Celena pointed out.

I saw Jade gave the machinery a thoughtful stare and I lowered my own gaze to the machine. Dist was here as well, that was the only explanation why fontech machines would be here. I opened my mouth to say something but an eerie chill ran up my spine as something flew past me from behind. To make things worse, a 'whooo' sound followed by a 'whoosh' sound was the first thing I heard. I quickly turned around to see what was there and found myself staring at the entrance.

"Anh?" Anise poked me on my side. I squeaked in terror and peered at Anise, completely paranoid. She tilted her head to the side, only to grin. "Don't tell me that you're scared of haunted places…"

"I…" Again that shivering feeling came back and Goosebumps rose up on my arms. I rubbed my arm with my free hand, looking behind me completely terrified. "What was that…?"

"What was what?" Ion asked, looking just as confused as everyone else. Ion's expression turned into concern. "Anh, you're growing paler. Is something the matter?"

Again that shivering feeling came back. "W-what was that…?" I repeated, sounding more terrified that I had been before.

"Stop it, Anh." Tear looked around madly. "That's not funny."

"I-I'm not trying to be funny…!" I inched closer to the group, trying to get some comfort. "I felt something fly past me not too long ago. And then these Goosebumps won't stop coming…! I think it's a ghost!"

"Come on, Anh," Luke sighed irritably. "There's no such thing as gh-"

"For someone that was able to kill my brothers and sisters, you sure are pathetic in this kind of environment." A new voice spoke up.

We all turned to the second floor of the building to find Arietta sitting on the weak rails, looking absolutely furious.

"It's Arietta!" Tear cried out as we all readied our weapons.

"Damn! She's at a height advantage!" Guy shouted, glancing to the stairs off to the sides.

"I won't let you go any further!" she shouted, lifting her doll up in the air. "Feel the first beats of time!"

Oh shit…

Realization replaced my fear completely as I tried to warn Tear as quickly as I was able to. "Tear! Force Field! Quickly!"

Tear already caught onto Arietta's intentions and started casting the spell as quickly as possible. But it was too late.

"Fall! Big Bang!"

The center of the entire room glowed a white light before it completely blinded all of us.

* * *

My brow furrowed in confusion. Arietta's Big Bang would have knocked us all out completely but what didn't make any sense was why we were still alive. It was already obvious that she would want Ion and Luke to stay alive since they were still needed. Wait…Does that mean that Luke was already kidnapped to open his fon slots or what? Argh! All of this was already confusing me.

Anise was rattling the bars madly. She then gave up and tried again in a different area.

"Anise, I don't think that will work." Tear sighed when Anise tried it again a third time.

"But it doesn't make any sense!" she protested, kicking the bars really hard. "This whole place looked like it could crumble any second now but these bars act like they were set up recently! If only I had Tokunaga with me! I could break this thing down in no time!"

"Our weapons are gone so we would have to make it work with what we have now." I mumbled.

"With what? Moss and slime?" Anise asked.

Tear's eyes widened in realization as she came up with an idea. "No, with our fonic artes. We can use the Field of Fonons to alter one of our artes to destroy the bars."

Anise was just about to say something else but she turned her head back to the bars and moved back towards the rest of us. Tear and I looked at her quite confused until she motioned to the both of us to stay quiet as the sound of footsteps came closer. Light illuminated one side of the dungeon indicating an exit. But the person holding that light didn't come any closer.

The next thing we knew, a bag landed right in front of the bar with a loud thump. The three of us exchange glances at each other before the next set of items fell. Namely our weapons and Tokunaga. Followed by a set of keys. And then a lantern that extinguished itself when the candle holding the small flame flipped upside down.

I scrambled to my feet and ran to the bars. Looking around the corner, I caught the sight of someone walking away from us with long hair and a tall height. Anything else, I wasn't able to see. It couldn't be Arietta, Dist or Sync since, being the ones here, none of them would have any reason to release us. And it would make sense for Van to hide himself from us plus his hair was tied up and this person's hair was down.

…Was it Asch then?

"…Or we could try to grab those keys and make our way out of here." Anise suggested breaking my train of thought. I looked in front of me to see the keys in front of us. Well...it was something.

If only the keys weren't so hard to reach for.

I didn't even spare a second thought to ask who wanted to grab the keys. I ended up doing it myself since I was already at the bars.

"Just…a little closer." I encouraged myself, ignoring the pain on my shoulder as I reached out for the keys. My fingers were able to touch a small fraction of the keys but they weren't able to pull it closer. I grimaced as I pulled back. The pain on my shoulder was starting to hurt a lot but now that I know that I could get those keys, I wasn't about to give up now.

"It's okay, Anh. We can just destroy these bars with fonic artes." Tear told me but I refused to back down.

"No, I can get it." I said, reaching out for the keys. "Besides, if we make some noise, it would alert everything that moves in this place. At the very least, we have an option to give the enemy a surprise attack."

Come on, self. Ignore the pain. Just a little further and…

"Got it!" I shouted in relief when my fingers got a good grip around the key. I pulled it forward before releasing it and reached out again to grasp it in my hand. I got up and quickly handed them over to Anise. While Anise fumbled though each and every key to find the right one for the cell, Tear was in position to heal my shoulder but I pulled back. "It's all right, Tear. It doesn't hurt as bad as you think it does."

Tear's eyes narrowed in suspicion but she nodded. Reluctantly, I might add. "If it hurts, let me know."

"Gotcha." I managed a fake smile at her. When Tear turned around to check up on Anise, I gripped my shoulder and winced at the pain of just touching it. I could feel the throbbing pulse that was being emitted from it and gritted my teeth to suppress it. Sorry Tear, but I wasn't planning to faint anytime soon. At the very least the pain should keep me wide awake.

In theory of course.

I picked up the bag and first thing I did was searched through it for a pair of glasses. Since whoever it was that dragged me, Tear and Anise down here, they took the liberty to make me blind again. I knew I was blind since, even though it was dark, people were fuzzy.

Whoever took my contacts was a bit too nice.

…Waaaay too nice.

Once I found my spare glasses, I put them on and threw the bag over my shoulder before picking up my rifle. Then I realized a huge setback. Using my good arm to pick up the keys was a biiig mistake. I relied on my right arm for support and firing and it was my right shoulder that I decided to bust.

Genius.

"Let's go," Tear said, readying her weapon. She had already lit the lantern. "We have to find the others and regroup before rescuing the chief engineer."

Anise let out a whine. "But that's going to be harder than you think. Let me remind that this used to be a vacation home to Luke's family so it has to be a ridiculous size for a home. In this huge building, it would be easier for the enemies to find us before we find everyone. None of us, aside from Guy, knows the layout of this place."

"It's better than nothing, really…" I mumbled. "I'd rather try instead of rotting here until Arietta figures out what to do with us."

"True…" Anise's hand rested on the side of her cheek as she tilted towards the right. "Plus, I want to find Ion as soon as we can. The Lieutenant should be with him but I want to make sure he's okay."

"We're wasting time here," Tear pointed out. She lifted the lantern up towards the direction of the stairways. "Every second counts. Also, this candle is not going to last very long. Let's make good use of it while it still burns."

Anise and I only nodded before all of us made it up the stairs. With the light illuminating the path in front of us, I could see all of the moss that was growing out of the walls. I was too afraid to actually touch the walls since it might feel slimy with all of the moisture that might have been left in the air. The sliminess reminded me that I had to take extra caution on the stairs since that, too, would have moss growing and other stuff growing all over the place.

After a few minutes of walking up the stairs we reached the doorway. Tear's eyes narrowed suspiciously at it before she handed the lantern to me and tested the door. It quickly opened with a loud creak but that was all it did.

"Well…" I spoke up lifting the lantern to illuminate the hall. "Considering the person that handed us the keys, he or she wouldn't have bothered locking the door on us."

"Yes, well it appears to me that whoever had given us the ability to escape, it would make sense for them to be an enemy of ours." Tear walked through the door first and glanced around the hallway. "I anticipated an ambush but it looks like they acted on their own accord. In any case, let's check out the rooms here."

"How about a locked room?" Anise suggested. Tear and I turned to Anise who held a door opened with one hand and in the other held the set of keys. "Any door that was locked might have a clue on where the guys are. Or a map at least."

I simply shrugged. "A map would be nice." Peering into the room, I saw regular room with a desk, cupboard and all that stuff. Off to the side were a set of armour and weapons that had already rusted. Everything in the room had dust and huge-ass cobwebs hanging all over the place and that alone just gave me the chills. Taking a step out, I turned around and tried to flee. "How about look in another room? Ones with light and prettier stuff?"

Tear quickly saw my intent to flee and grabbed my arm to prevent it. Anise had my back and the two of them dragged me into the room.

"Oh, come on, Anh~" Anise chirped. "It's just a few cobwebs and dust~"

"Yeah, well, if you haven't noticed, those are _huge_ cobwebs!" I protested trying to resist the pull. "You don't know how big those spiders would be to create those! O-or know what's lurking around the corner!"

Tear sighed. "There's no hidden corner in this room, Anh."

"You know what I meant!" I shrieked. Suddenly the door behind us slammed shut, and my internal fear meter skyrocketed. I jabbed towards the door where Anise made her way there to reopen it. "See! Now who said that ghosts don't exists!"

"No one that was in this room, I assure you." Tear told me calmly.

Anise rattled the door and then gave up. "The keys don't work either. Ah, well, you know what that means."

"We're doomed!" I cried out.

Tear shook her head. "No, this room has a mechanism that can unlock this door from within. It's not an uncommon thing to see."

"All we have to do is look for it." Anise continued for Tear. "Either that or someone else opens it from the other side."

"It's better if we didn't wait for someone else to open the door from the other side." Tear pointed out. "Let's look around. There has to be something to reopen the door."

Tear and Anise immediately got to work, looking around for something. I stood in the middle of the room…holding the lantern. I stared at the desk that was right beside me. A part of me wanted to help them look but the cobwebs that was sitting almost everywhere on the desk said otherwise. I winced at the glance of the cobwebs but slowly, really slowly, I inched myself closer to the desk. Setting the lantern down, I pulled my sleeve up to my palm and used that as a duster. I covered my nose with my right sleeve. It was a little painful to even lift my shoulder but it was a bearable thing to get through.

Something glowing to the right caught my attention. I moved to the right and found an old mirror resting there. I didn't see anything when I looked through it but I blame the dust that was still covering it. So I cleaned off the dust only to see something floating that was being reflected on the mirror. First thing that went through my head was SHIT! I turned around hoping to warn Tear but I ended up seeing nothing.

"Oh, there's something written here," Anise spoke up cheerfully. "Hmm…It says not to look at 'it' in the eye. I wonder what it means by that."

Blood basically rushed out of my head because I knew what they meant.

Trust me, Anise, you'd rather not know. Cause I think I just found it…!

I moved away from the mirror since _that_ was where I last saw that thing. Time to move somewhere else. Like a cupboard. Just...not a mirror!

My sixth sense told me something was staring at me and to emphasize it, I received Goosebumps and a shiver that worked its way up my spine. It was deja vu all over again when the sudden 'whoo' sound from behind again. Past experience had me seeing nothing the last time that had happened. Instead, I found myself staring face to face with a one-eyed creature floating in the air. Its single ruby red eye searched the room mindlessly before it settled onto mine. I took a step back, probably sweating like crazy right now, and I waved to Tear.

"Tear…" I whined but it probably wasn't loud enough since there was no response from her. The creature then smiled. Freakishly, considering that it only had one eye and that smile spread from one side to the other. And it slowly opened its mouth revealing an unnatural set of teeth that was dripping with saliva. "No…NOOOO!"

I dropped the lantern and ran to a corner, huddling there with my knees to my chest and my hands covering my head. "No! Don't come here!"

Anise and Tear were right at my side, trying to pry my hands apart. I heard them mumbling along the lines of 'calm down' and 'what's the matter' but I couldn't help but sob hysterically; pointing to where I last saw that thing. It didn't help my case cause that thing had disappeared so Tear and Anise only saw nothing. They looked at me thinking I had gone nuts.

"I saw something!" I cried out. "I-it was big! And…and…I don't want to do this anymore…" I huddled back into my crotched position, tucking my head in my arms.

"Here we go again." Tear sighed.

The door to the room suddenly rattled with a strong force. I would squeak in fear if it was possible but Tear's hand on my mouth kinda made it impossible to do that at the moment. The shaking continued and Anise's hand was added on top of Tear's to send me a message of 'keep quiet!'

The sound stopped and we all relaxed. For a time being. Tear slinked away from the two of us and picked up her weapon with a lethal glare at the door. As if she was expecting something, the rattling of the door changed to pounding. I grabbed Anise and buried my face on her shoulder as she lightly patted my arm hopefully in reassurance.

One muffled grunt from the other side of the door and the door sounded like it burst opened. Tear shouted a battle cry to face the intruder but by the sound of metal clashing together, it sounded like she faced some form of resistance.

A few more metal clashing into each other and suddenly…

"Tear…?"

* * *

**I realized that this would have been a good opportunity to post this on Halloween but…darn my lazy butt and all. XD**

**Happy one day late New Year! It's uber late but I got it done! :D**

**Next up!**

"_**Shut up, we're the four-eyed duo now."**_

_**"So you're saying it's **_**my_ fault?"_**


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